UC-NRLF 


UNITED  STATES  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN  No.  753 


Contribution  from  the  Forest  Service 
HENRY  S.  GRAVES,  Forester 


Washington,  D.  C. 


March  10, 1919 


THE  USE  OF  WOOD  FOR  FUEL 


Compiled  by  the  Office  of  Forest  Investigations 


CONTENTS 


Introduction 1 

Wood  Instead  of  Coal  for  Fuel    ....  2 

What  to  Use  for  Wood  Fuel 6 

Supply  of  Fuel  Wood 8 

Producing  and  Marketing  Wood  Fuel     .  9 

How  to  Use  Wood  Fuel  .......  24 

Efficiency  of  Wood  Fuel. 27 


Page 

Wood  Fuel  for  the  Future 33 

Promoting  Use  of  Wood  for  Fuel       • .    .  35 

Summary ......  38 

Appendix 39 

Publications  on  Wood  Fuel  ....  39 

Recent  Publications  on  Wood  Fuel  .  39 

Bibliography 40 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 
1919 


\ 


UNITED  STATES  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE 

BULLETIN  No.  753 


Contribution  from  the  Forest  Service. 
HENRY  S.  GRAVES,  Forester. 


Washington,  D.  C. 


March  10, 1919 


THE  USE  OF  WOOD  FOR  FUEL. 

Compiled  by  the  Office  of  Forest  Investigations. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 
1 
2 
6 
8 
9 
24 
Efficiency  of  wood  fuel  ......................       27 


Introduction 

Wood  instead  of  coal  for  fuel 

What  to  use  for  wood  fuel 

Supply  offuelwood 

Producing  and  marketing  wood  fuel 

How  to  use  wood  fuel 


Page. 

Wood  fuel  for  the  future 33 

Promoting  use  of  wood  for  fuel 35 

Summary 33 

Appendix ' 39 

Publications  on  wood  fuel 39 

Recent  publications  on  wood  fuel 39 


Bibliography. 


40 


INTRODUCTION. 

Wood  has  always  been  of  considerable  importance  as  fuel  in  this 
country,  and  the  present  emergency  has  greatly  increased  its  com- 
parative value  for  this  purpose.  Wood  is  now  being  cut  for  fuel  in 
places  where  for  many  years  it  had  practically  gone  out  of  use.  On 
farms  where  coal  had  become  the  ordinary  fuel  and  was  brought  in 
from  great  distances  while  wood  suitable  for  fuel  went  to  waste  in 
the  neighborhood,  wood  is  now  coming  into  its  own  again.  It  is 
being  more  used  in  churches,  schools,  and  homes,  and  even  in  fac- 
tories. The  use  of  wood  for  fuel  saves  transportation,  it  utilizes 
wood  that  would  otherwise  go  to  waste,  and  it  releases  coal  for  ships 
and  railroads  and  munitions  plants.  Heretofore  wood  has  supplied 
between  10  and  15  per  cent  of  the  total  amount  of  fuel  used  in  the 
United  States.  The  wide  distribution  of  wood  fuel  supplies,  and  the 
fact  that  they  are  so  located  as  to  save  transportation  should,  under 
present  conditions,  lead  to  a  considerable  increase  in  the  proportion 
of  wood  in  our  fuel  consumption. 

The  purpose  of  this  bulletin  i  is  to  aid  in  the  conservation  of  the 
Nation's  coal  supply  and  in  the  full  and  proper  use  of  our  wood 

1  As  is  readily  apparent,  the  material  used  in  this  bulletin  is  largely  compiled  from 
many  sources.  Credit  has  been  given  as  far  as  it  has  seemed  practical,  but  in  many 
instances  the  data  are  so  adapted  and  changed  that  a  specific  reference  would  be  mis- 
leading. Information  has  been  obtained  from  State  wood-fuel  and  Forest  Service  publi- 
cations mainly,  but  miscellaneous  data  and  tables  have  been  drawn  from  everywhere. 
This  general  statement  is  made  in  order  to  acknowledge  help  from  sources  not  specifically 
mentioned. 


477600 


2        ,\*.J  :  B'PL&ETllSr  753,  U.  S.   DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

resources  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such  a  fuel  shortage  as  occurred 
during  the  winter  of  1917-18,  by  indicating  the  best  and  most  eco- 
nomical methods  of  cutting,  distributing,  and  using  wood  for  fuel. 
Uneconomical  methods  of  handling  the  wood  increase  the  cost  and 
waste  the  product,  careless  methods  of  cutting  the  trees  may  endanger 
the  future  supply,  and  the  reckless  use  of  shade  or  ornamental  trees 
for  fuel  is  an  unjustifiable  extravagance. 

In  the  utilization  of  the  forests  of  the  country,  including  farm 
woodlands,  a  great  deal  of  wood  material  is  produced  which  can  not 
find  a  use  other  than  as  fuel  wood.  While  some  of  it  is  used  for 
acid  wood,  charcoal,  etc.,  most  of  it  is  left  for  fuel  or  wasted. 

Since  many  of  the  trees  in  our  forests  are  fit  only  for  fuel,  they  will 
not  be  cut  unless  there  is  a  demand  for  fuel  wood.  Improvement 
cuttings,  which  take  the  small,  diseased,  or  defective  trees,  can  not  be 
profitably  made  in  many  cases  unless  there  is  such  a  demand.  Thin- 
nings can  frequently  be  made  to  pay  for  themselves  if  the  material 
is  used  for  fuel.  Sometimes  products  of  thinnings  can  be  used  for 
other  purposes  than  fuel,  but  more  often  they  can  not.  As  proper 
thinnings  and  improvement  cuttings  are  a  great  stimulus  to  increased 
production  and  at  the  same  time  improve  the  quality  of  the  timber, 
a  fuel  wood  demand  opens  up  a  great  opportunity  for  forest  im- 
provement and,  if  widespread  and  continued,  will  produce  a  vast  total 
effect  for  the  better  in  the  character  and  quality  of  our  forest  re- 
sources. 

Wood  waste  occurs  at  every  stage  of  the  manufacture  of  wood 
products,  from  the  lumber  operations  through  the  milling  process 
and  in  the  special  processes  necessary  to  shape  the  article  into  its 
final  form.  A  wide  use  of  wood  fuel  affords  a  market  for  this  waste, 
which  would  otherwise  be  lost. 

Preparing  wood  for  fuel  involves  slightly  more  labor  than  is 
required  to  produce  coal.  It  is,  however,  usually  widely  scattered 
labor  which  is  used  in  wood  cutting  and  hauling,  and  no  increased 
demand  on  labor  is  really  made.  On  most  farms  there  is  plenty  of 
time  during  the  winter  for  both  men  and  teams  to  work  at  getting 
out  wood. 

WOOD  INSTEAD  OF  COAL  FOR  FUEL. 

USE  OF  WOOD   SHOULD  BE   LARGELY  INCREASED   IN  RURAL  DISTRICTS. 

Who  can  with  the  least  hardship  restrict  his  consumption  of  coal  ? 
Certain  classes  of  consumers  require  concentrated  fuel,  such  as  coal 
or  crude  oil ;  others  can  use  other  fuels,  but  at  a  considerable  disad- 
vantage. Most  manufacturers  are  unable  to  substitute  wood  for  coal 
to  any  great  extent  because  of  the  character  of  their  heating  and 
power  plants  and  because  of  their  location,  which  involves  railroad 


THE  USE  OF  WOOD  FOR  FUEL.  3 

haul  for  wood.  For  similar  reasons  domestic  consumers  in  the  cities 
can  not  well  use  wood  to  any  great  extent.  Wholesale  rail  trans- 
portation of  fuel  wood  is  not  desirable  because  of  its  bulk  as  com- 
pared with  coal  of  the  same  heating  value.  The  substitution  can  best 
be  made  in  places  where  team-hauled  wood  will  take  the  place  of 
rail-hauled  coal.  Farmers  who  own  woodlands  and  villagers  who 
can  buy  wood  from  near-by  farms  can  reduce  their  consumption  of 
coal  with  least  inconvenience  to  themselves  and  with  the  greatest 
benefit  to  the  public  interest. 

Because  of  the  large  proportion  of  wood  normally  used  in  the 
South  and  the  long  hauls  involved  in  the  West  it  is  not  likely  that 
the  use  of  wood  for  fuel  can  be  greatly  increased  in  those  regions. 
In  New  England,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  In- 
diana, Illinois,  Iowa,  Missouri,  and  the  Lake  States  it  ought  to  be 
entirely  practicable  in  many  cases  to  replace  coal  with  wood.  In 
these  17  States  is  a  rural  population  of  about  20,000,000,  which  is 
estimated  to  use  annually  18,000,000  tons  of  coal.  If  by  substituting 
wood  one-quarter  less  coal  could  be  burned  on  farms  and  one-tenth 
less  in  villages,  the  total  saving  would  amount  to  nearly  3,000,000 
tons,  or  between  65,000  and  70,000  carloads. 

For  many  uses,  and  particularly  for  summer-time  use,  wood  is  a 
more  convenient  and  cheaper  fuel  than  coal.  Churches,  halls,  summer 
cottages,  and  other  buildings  where  heat  is  wanted  only  occasionally, 
and  then  on  short  notice,  find  wood  more  satisfactory  for  this 
purpose. 

PRESENT  USE  OF  WOOD  FUEL. 

Up  to  the  present  time  practically  no  systematic  attempt  has 
been  made  to  take  a  census  of  the  wood  fuel  cut  or  on  hand  each  year. 
Wood  seems  to  be  the  only  form  of  fuel  on  which  annual  statistics 
of  production  are  not  available. 

In  1916  and  1917  the  Bureau  of  Crop  Estimates  in  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  secured  estimates  of  the  number  of  cords  used  on  the 
farms  but  not  the  total  amount  cut.  It  is  understood  that  in  1918 
the  amount  sold  from  the  farm  annually  will  be  obtained  also,  thus 
showing  the  total  cut. 

According  to  figures  collected  by  the  Bureau  of  Crop  Estimates 
(see  Table  1)  about  83,000,000  cords  of  wood  fuel  were  used  in  1917 
on  the  farms  of  the  United  States.  Similar  estimates  made  in 
December,  1916,  indicated  that  about  82,000,000  cords  were  used. 
It  is  likely  that  the  total  amount  consumed  on  farms  and  in  villages 
and  cities  is  upwards  of  100,000,000  cords  annually.  In  these  esti- 
mates, and  in  all  other  references  to  "  cord  "  in  this  bulletin,  unless 
otherwise  stated,  a  cord  is  reckoned  as  128  stacked  cubic  feet — i.  e.,  a 
pile  8  by  4  by  4  feet. 


BULLETIN  753,  U.  S.   DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


The  value  of  wood  advanced  more  than  24  per  cent  from  December, 
1916,  to  December,  1917.  On  the  basis  of  1917  prices  reported,  the 
value  of  firewood  used  on  farms  of  the  United  States  is  about 
$283,000,000,  or  $43.13  per  farm. 

TABLE  1. — Wood  fuel  used  on  farms. 


Number 
of  farms 
1917 
(esti- 
mated). 

Cords 
per 
farm. 

Number 
of  cords 
per 
State. 

Value  per  cord. 

Value  of  wood  used 
on  basis  of  Decem- 
ber, 1917,  values. 

Decem- 
ber, 
1917. 

Decem- 
ber, 
1916. 

Value 
per  farm. 

Total 
value. 

Maine 

60,000 
27,000 
33,000 
37,000 
5.000 
27,000 
215,000 
33,000 
218,000 
11.000 
50,000 
190,000 
99,000 
259,000 
185,000 
300,000 
55,000 
271,000 
215,000 
250,000 
209,000 
180,000 
157,000 
215,000 
275,000 
90,000 
90,000 
135,000 
180,000 
265,000 
250,000 
270,000 
285,000 
122,000 
430,000 
210,000 
225,000 
35,000 
15,000 
55,000 
45,000 
12,000 
23,000 
3,000 
36,000 
65,000 
50,000 
95,000 

13 
12 
15 
10 
10 
13 
14 
8 
9 
13 
13 
18 
16 
17 
14 
16 
11 
13 
12 
9 
13 
13 
11 
5 
13 
3 
3 
3 
6 
18 
19 
18 
16 
15 
9 
10 
19 
10 
10 
6 
9 
9 
8 
11 
9 
11 
12 
10 

780,000 
324,000 
495,000 
370,  000 
50,000 
351,000 
3,010,000 
264,000 
1,962,000 
143,  000 
650,000 
3,420,000 
1,584,000 
4,403,000 
2,  590,  000 
4,800,000 
605,000 
3,523,000 
2,580,000 
2,250,000 
2,717,000 
2,340,000 
1,727,000 
1,075,000 
3,575,000 
270,000 
270,000 
405,000 
1,080,000 
4,770,000 
4,750,000 
4,860,000 
4,560,000 
1,830,000 
3,870,000 
2,100,000 
4,275,000 
350,000 
150,000 
330,000 
405,000 
108,000 
184,000 
33,000 
324,000 
715,000 
600,000 
950,000 

$6.40 
6.40 
6.00 
6.35 
5.80 
6.00 
4.60 
5.10 
3.50 
4.20 
4.15 
3.20 
2.90 
2.75 
3.00 
2.50 
3.10 
3.60 
3.70 
4.60 
5.25 
5.50 
5.40 
4.70 
3.20 
7.50 
6.20 
4.25 
4.25 
2.20 
2.20 
2.00 
2.30 
2.50 
3.40 
3.10 
2.35 
4.80 
4.50 
4.50 
4.20 
5.75 
5.00 
7.00 
5.00 
5.20 
4.70 
7.40 

$4.50 
4.60 
4.35 
4.70 
4.00 
4.50 
4.00 
4.00 
2.60 
3.10 
3.20 
2.40 
2.30 
2.10 
2.10 
2.00 
2.60 
3.00 
3.30 
3.40 
4.00 
4.20 
4.30 
4.20 
2.60 
6.40 
6.00 
3.90 
3.30 
1.70 
1.75 
1.80 
1.90 
2.25 
2.80 
2.75 
2.00 
4.50 
3.80 
3.70 
4.00 
5.40 
4.00 
6.00 
4.60 
4.50 
3.90 
5.80 

$83.20 
76.80 
90.00 
63.50 
58.00 
78.00 
64.40 
40.80 
31.50 
54.60 
53.95 
57.60 
46.40 
46.75 
42.00 
40.00 
34.10 
46.80 
44.40 
41.40 
68.25 
71.50 
59.40 
23.50 
41.60 
22.50 
18.60 
12.75 
25.50 
39.60 
41.80 
36.00 
36.80 
37.50 
30.60 
31.00 
44.65 
48.00 
45.00 
27.00 
37.80 
51.75 
40.00 
77.00 
45.00 
57.20 
56.40 
74.00 

14,992,000 
2.074.000 
2,970,000 
2,350,000 
290,000 
2,106,000 
13,846,000 
1,346,000 
6,867,000 
601,000 
2,698,000 
10,944.000 
4,594,000 
12,108,000 
7,770,000 
12,000,000 
1,876,000 
12,683,000 
9,546,000 
10,350,000 
14,264,000 
12,870,000 
9,326,000 
5,052,000 
11,440,000 
2,025,000 
1,674,000 
1,721,000 
4,  590,  000 
10,494,000 
10,450,000 
9,720,000 
10,488,000 
4,575,000 
13,  158,  000 
6,510,000 
10,046,000 
1,680,000 
675,000 
1,485,000 
1,701,000 
621,000 
920,000 
231,000 
1,620,000 
3,718,000 
2,820,000 
7,030,000 

New  Hampshire    

Vermont 

Massachusetts  

Rhode  Island 

Connecticut  

New  York 

New  Jersey  

Pennsylvania 

Delaware 

Maryland  

Virginia 

West  Virginia  

North  Carolina 

South  Carolina 

Georgia    

Florida 

Ohio     

Indiana 

Illinois 

Michigan      .             

Wisconsin 

Minnesota  

Iowa 

Missouri  

North  Dakota  

South  Dakota 

Nebraska  

Kansas      .  ... 

Kentucky 

Tennessee  

Alabama 

Mississippi  

Louisiana  

Texas 

Oklahoma  

Arkansas 

Montana 

Wyoming  

Colorado 

New  Mexico  

Arizona  

Utah 

Nevada  

Idaho  

Washington 

Oregon 

California  

United  States  

6,562,000 

12.6 

82,777,000 

3.42 

2.75 

43.13 

282,915,000 

Bui.  753,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


PLATE  I. 


FIG.  I.— SAWING  EMERGENCY  WOOD  TO  RELIEVE  COAL  SHORTAGE,  GREENVILLE, 
TENN.,  JANUARY  18,  1918. 


FIG.  2.-A  LOAD  OF  STOVE  WOOD  IN    NORTHERN   MICHIGAN  (ONTONAGON 

COUNTY). 


THE  USE  OF  WOOD  FOR  FUEL. 


A  detailed  survey  of  the  use  of  wood  and  coal  in  selected  localities 
in  a  number  of  States  gave  the  following  comparative  data : 

TABLE  2. — Average  annual  consumption  of  coal  and  icood  per  family  on  farms  in 

eight  States.1 


State  and  county. 

Coal,  per  family. 

Wood,  per  family. 

Tons. 

Value. 

Cords. 

Value. 

Vermont  (Lamoille)                                        

0.1 
2.5 
4.9 
5.7 
3.0 
3.9 

$1.01 
16.00 
26.90 
23.70 
20.70 
29.57 

14.3 
12.2 
6.2 
12.0 
7.5 
4.8 
14.0 
17.8 

$65.40 
54.80 
19.00 
32.50 
38.80 
22.40 
43.58 
51.60 

New  York  (Otsego) 

Pennsylvania  (  Bucks)  

Ohio  (Champaign)                                                       -      ... 

Iowa  (  Montgomery)                                  

North  Carolina  (Gaston) 

Georgia  (Troup)  

2.5 

14.74 

11.1 

41.01 

i  From  Farmers'  Bulletin  635, "  What  the  Farm  Contributes  Directly  to  the  Farmer's  Living,"  by  W.  C. 
Funk.  See  also  Department  of  Agriculture  Bulletin  410,  "Value  to  Farm  Families  of  Food,  Fuel,  and  Use 
of  House,"  by  W.  C.  Funk. 

TABLE  3. — Average  annual  consumption  of  wood  per  person  in  eight  States,  show- 
ing the  per  cent  of  wood  bought  and  the  per  cent  furnished  by  the  farm. 


State  and  county. 

Per  person. 

Per  cent. 

Cords. 

Value. 

Bought. 

Furnished 
by  farm. 

Vermont  (Lamoille)  

3.0 
3.1 
1.2 
2,9 
1.1 
1.7 
3.1 
3.3 

$13.62 
13.70 
3.65 
7.93 
5.34 
8.82 
9.68 
9.56 

3.0 
1-8 
5.8 
6.2 
7.7 

97.0 
98.2 
94.2 
93.8 
92.3 
100.0 
96.1 
100.0 

New  York  (Otsego) 

Pennsylvania  (  Bucks)  

Ohio  (Champaign)  .  .  . 

Wisconsin  (Jefferson) 

Iowa  (Montgomery)  

North  Carolina  (Gaston)  

3.9 

Georgia  (Troup) 

Average.  . 

2.4 

9.04 

3.55 

96.45 

INDUSTRIAL  USE  OF  WOOD   FUEL. 

The  use  of  wood  fuel  by  factories  reached  its  greatest  development 
in  New  England  during  the  acute  coal  shortage  of  the  winter  of 
1917-18,  because  this  section  was  practically  shut  off  for  a  time  from 
all  supplies  of  bituminous  coal,  which  is  the  factory  fuel.  Com- 
plete information  is  not  available  on  the  quantity  of  wood  used  by 
the  factories  or  how  extensive  its  use  was  throughout  New  England, 
but  it  is  known  that  a  great  many  factories  were  forced  to  use  wood 
to  keep  in  operation.  One  dealer  reported  that  he  had  shipped  5,500 
cords  of  wood  to  the  factories  in  eastern  Massachusetts. 

Such  use  of  wood  will  come  about  only  through  necessity,  as  it 
costs  at  least  three  times  as  much  as  soft  coal.  The  only  reason  for 
using  it,  therefore,  is  to  keep  the  factories  running.  This  points  to 
the  fact  that  in  wood  fuel  the  country  has  a  reserve  or  substitute  fuel 
which  can  be  drawn  upon  in  an  emergency,  not  only  to  supply  domes- 


6  BULLETIN  753,  TJ.'  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

tic  consumption  but  to  keep  the  factories  running,  although  it  may 
not  be  so  efficient  in  the  latter  case  as  coal.  Instead  of  waiting  for 
emergency  conditions  to  arrive,  it  would  be  well  for  both  domestic 
and  industrial  users  of  fuel  to  plan  on  wood  reserves  in  case  the 
main  reliance,  coal,  is  not  forthcoming. 

It  has  been  reported  that  cotton  mills  in  South  Carolina  and  else- 
where throughout  the  South  are  laying  in  wood  to  supply  the  mills 
in  case  of  shortage,  in  addition  to  their  usual  supplies  of  wood  for 
the  operatives. 

It  is,  of  course,  not  desirable  to  use  railroad  transportation  for 
wood  fuel  to  factories  unless  there  is  no  coal  to  haul.  Then  wood  may 
be  moved  by  rail  to  avoid  shutting  down.  Many  factories  are  so 
located  at  points  away  from  large  centers  that  wood  can  be  used 
without  shipping,  and  as  in  the  aggregate  they  consume  a  large 
amount  of  fuel,  a  change  to  wood  would  be  an  appreciable  help. 

WHAT  TO  USE  FOR  WOOD  FUEL. 

THINNINGS  ANI>  IMPROVEMENT  CUTTINGS. 

The  great  bulk  of  the  wood-fuel  supply  in  farming  regions  should 
come  from  thinnings  and  improvement  cuttings  on  farm  woodlands. 
Except  under  stress  of  emergency,  trees  which  will  produce  lumber 
or  other  material  of  higher  value  than  cordwood  should  not  be  cut 
for  fuel. 

Trees  which  are  better  suited  for  fuel  than  for  any  other  purpose, 
and  whose  removal  will  be  of  benefit  to  the  remaining  stand,  are : 

1.  Sound  standing  and  down  dead  trees. 

2.  Trees  diseased  or  seriously  injured  by  insect  attacks,  or  those 
extremely  liable  to  such  injury,  such  as  chestnut  in  the  region  subject 
to  blight,  or  birch  in  the  gypsy-moth  area ;  badly  fire-scarred  trees. 

3.  Crooked  trees  and  large-crowned  short-boled  trees  which  will 
not  make  good  lumber  and  which  are  crowding  or  overtopping  others. 

4.  Trees  which  have  been  overtopped  by  others  and  their  growth 
stunted. 

5.  Trees  of  the  less  valuable  species  where  they  are  crowding  more 
valuable  ones,  as  beech,  block  oak,  birch,  hard  maple,  white  oak,  or 
white  pine. 

6.  Slow-growing  trees  which  are  crowding  fast-growing  species  of 
equal  value. 

TREES  ON  OLD  PASTURES. 

On  many  farms  former  pastures  have  become  overgrown  with 
red  cedar,  gray  birch,  aspen,  pine,  or  other  trees.  The  trees  came  in 
slowly  and  through  neglect  were  allowed  to  steal  much  of  the  pasture. 
If  fuel  is  to  be  cut  somewhere  on  the  farm,  such  land  as  this  should 
be  drawn  upon  first  of  all  and  redeemed  by  removing  all  the  trees  and 


THE   USE  OF   WOOD  FOR  FUEL.  7 

restoring  the  land  to  grass.  Also,  uncleared  corners  of  fields  or 
patches  of  agricultural  land  within  the  border  of  the  wood  lot  may  be 
cut  clean,  the  wood  used  for  fuel,  and  the  land  eventually  farmed. 
The  expense  of  clearing  is  thus  largely  or  entirely  met  by  the  value 
of  the.  fuel  produced. 

TOPS  AND  LOPS, 

Thousands  of  cords  of  wood  from  the  tops  and  limbs  of  trees  felled 
in  lumbering  operations  rot  annually  or  furnish  fuel  for  forest  fires. 
Ordinarily  this  waste  can  not  be  avoided,  because  lumbering  is  most 
important  in  the  less  thinly  populated  parts  of  the  country,  and  long 
hauls  to  cordwood  markets  are  too  costly.  Sometimes,  however, 
farmers  overlook  near-by  woods  operations  as  sources  of  fuel.  The 
material  is  already  down  and  can  be  worked  up  easily  into  cordwood. 
Owners  of  cut-over  land  usually  are  glad  to  have  such  material  re- 
moved. 

MILL  WASTE. 

Mill  waste  is  very  widely  used  as  fuel  in  the  neighborhood  of  saw- 
mills and  woodworking  plants.  Much  of  this  refuse  is  burned  to  sup- 
ply power  for  the  mills  themselves,  but  considerable  is  used  as  fuel  by 
individuals  and  in  some  regions  by  other  manufacturers.  In  many 
instances  there  are  still  large  amounts  of  this  material  going  to  waste 
which  could  be  made  available  for  fuel. 

SAWDUST   BRIQUETS. 

There  are  now  at  least  three  firms  on  the  Pacific  coast  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  sawdust  briquetting  machinery,  and  at  least  three 
plants  for  the  manufacture  of  this  fuel  have  been  established  there. 

The  main  market  for  briquets  will  probably  be  for  domestic  use 
where  the  cleanliness  and  easy  kindling  qualities  of  the  briquet  are 
a  fine  asset.  For  this  use  the  briquet  might  be  able  to  compete  with 
coal  at  only  $8.50  a  ton,  the  housewife  being  willing  to  pay  a  little 
more  for  the  same  heat  value  on  account  of  these  desirable  proper- 
ties. The  almost  total  absence  of  ash,  the  absolute  absence  of  clinker, 
and  the  lack  of  smoke  are  great  advantages  of  briquets  over  coal. 

In  competing  with  cordwood  the  briquet  has  certain  advantages, 
such  as  requiring  less  labor  in  preparing  for  the  fire,  containing  less 
moisture  and  more  wood  per  pound,  and  obviating  the  need  for 
kindling  wood. 

The  best  chance  for  the  success  of  the  wood  or  sawdust  briquet 
is  in  those  regions  where  sawdust  is  abundant  and  coal  is  expensive. 
The  region  best  fulfilling  these  conditions  in  this  country  is  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  it  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  companies  now 
establishing  the  industry  in  America  are  all,  as  far  as  the  author 
knows,  on  the  Pacific  coast. 


8 


BULLETIN  753,  U.   S.   DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


CHARCOAL. 

In  England  it  is  said  that  the  war  has  caused  a  revival  of  the  dying 
charcoal  industry.  A  great  deal  has  been  done  with  this  fuel  and 
there  is  a  possibility  of  a  like  interest  being  aroused  in  this  country 
as  fuel  conditions  become  acute.  There  are  doubtless  many  places 
in  the  wooded  districts  of  the  East,  especially  near  large  cities, 
where  charoal  can  be  made  to  advantage  in  the  next  few  years. 
Charcoal  has  a  larger  heating  power  per  cubic  foot  than  wood,  a  ton 
yielding  about  2,000  horsepower,  and  it  is  cheaper  to  transport  on 
account  of  its  light  weight.1 

Table  4  gives  the  production  of  charcoal  in  the  United  States  in 
1909.  It  is  reported  that  Michigan  and  Wisconsin  now  lead  in  char- 
coal production. 

TABLE  4. — Charcoal  production  in  1909* 


State. 

Quantity. 

Value. 

Michigan 

Bushels. 
13,514,106 

$868,003 

New  York  :  

5,  147,  160 

287,  103 

Pennsylvania  .  

16,357,598 

936,  357 

All  other  States 

3,998,383 

260,  181 

Total     ...                                            

39,017,247 

2,351,644 

i  Thirteenth  Census,  IT.  S.  1910,  vol.  10,  p.  622. 
SUPPLY  OF  FUEL  WOOD. 

With  the  increased  use  of  wood  fuel  which  is  likely  to  continue 
for  several  years,  it  is  important  to  know  how  much  fuel  wood  there 
is  in  the  country  and  its  local  distribution  and  availability.  An 
estimate  of  the  total  amount  of  firewood  has  never  been  made.  Ten- 
tative figures  show  the  following  cords  per  farm  in  certain  selected 
regions : 

No.  of  cords 
Region.  per  farm. 

Northern    Vermont 952 

Southeastern    Pennsylvania- 218 

Southern    Indiana 474 

Central    Indiana 167 

Northern    Indiana 344 

Northern    Wisconsin - —  317 

Southern    Minnesota 256 

Eastern  Iowa 

Southeastern  Nebraska 

Central  North  Carolina -  1>  231 

Northeastern  South  Carolina -  1,978 

Central   Tennessee 

Northern  Alabama !•  660 

Northern  Louisiana -  2,  315 

Southern  Missouri 

Average 739 


1  "  Logging  and  Lumbering,"   by  C.   A.  Schenck. 


Bui.  753,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


PLATE  1 1 


FIG.  I.— UNLOADING  CORDWOOD  FOR  FUEL  FROM  SAILBOATS  AT  WHARVES, 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


FIG.  2.— VIEW  OF  TOP  OF  STACKS  OF  CORDWOOD  IN  ONE  YARD  AT  WASHINGTON, 

D.  C. 

Capacity  of  yard  5,000  cords. 


Bui.  753,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


PLATE  1 1 1 


FIG.  I.— INDUSTRIAL  USE  OF  WOOD  FUEL.    STORED  WOOD  FUEL  RESERVE  OF 
A  NEW  ENGLAND  FACTORY. 

This  supply  was  obtained  in  anticipation  of  a  coal  shortage.    Photo  by  W.  D.  Clark,  published 
in  American  Forestry,  June,  1918. 


FIG.  2,-FiRiNG  WITH  WOOD  FUEL;  FURNACES  IN  A  NEW  ENGLAND  FACTORY 
EQUIPPED  WITH  AUTOMATIC  STOKERS  FOR  COAL. 

Photo  by  W.  D.  Clark,  published  in  American  Forestry,  June,  1918. 


THE  USE  OF  WOOD  FOR  FUEL.  9 

On  the  farms  alone  the  total  area  of  woodland  in  the  eastern 
United  States  is  approximately  143,392,000  acres.  The  first  tier  of 
States  just  west  of  the  Mississippi  has  a  great  deal  of  timber,  espe- 
cially northern  Minnesota,  southern  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Louisiana, 
southeastern  Oklahoma,  and  eastern  Texas.  In  the  West  the 
wooded  areas  are  for  the  most  part  restricted  to  the  mountains.  An 
average  of  10  cords  per  acre,  which  seems  reasonable,  would  give 
one  and  one-half  billions  of  cords  for  the  region  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. 

At  the  average  rate  of  consumption  on  the  farm  itself,  12.6  cords 
per  year,  739  cords  will  last  58  years.  On  the  average  this  would 
be  ample  time  to  replace  the  stands  and  thus  continue  the  supply 
indefinitely.  As  a  fact,  however,  the  woodland  area  is  in  many  re- 
gions constantly  shrinking  as  a  result  of  land  clearing  for  agricul- 
tural use  and  grazing.  Thus  unless  care  is  taken  of  that  which 
remains  the  future  supply  of  fuel  wood  will  be  materially  reduced. 

The  supply  of  wood  fuel  in  any  particular  locality  depends  on 
more  than  the  total  amount  of  timber.  Part  of  it  will  be  on  the 
land  which  is  suitable  for  clearing  for  agriculture,  and  which  will 
be  cleared  and  improved  in  the  near  future.  Obviously,  the  timber 
on  such  tracts  can  all  be  cut.  More  will  be  found  on  land  which 
should  be  retained  in  woodland,  and  here  the  question  is  how  much 
can  be  cut  out  safely.  As  a  rule,  only  a  certain  percentage  can  be 
cut  without  jeopardizing  the  forest  resources  of  the  future.  There 
is  the  further  question  of  how  much  of  the  wood  cut  is  available 
for  fuel.  The  trees  which  are  cut  may  be  suitable  for  lumber,  ties, 
telephone  poles,  and  other  higher  uses.  Therefore,  it  is  essential  to 
know  not  only  the  total  amount  of  wood  but  the  amount  of  fuel 
wood  which  can  come  out  without  injury  to  the  forest.  Only  by 
means  of  a  survey  covering  these  points  can  a  practical  and  compre- 
hensive plan  be  developed  to  coordinate  the  supply  and  use  of  wood 
fuel  within  a  given  region  with  other  forms  of  fuel  which  may  be 
available. 

PRODUCING  AND  MARKETING  WOOD  FUEL. 

STUMPAGE. 

The  first  item  of  cost  in  producing  wood  fuel  is  the  price  reckoned 
or  paid  for  stumpage.  Stumpage  for  this  purpose  ranges  in  price 
from  nothing  to  $5  per  cord,  depending  somewhat  upon  the  region, 
the  kind  and  quality  of  timber,  and  the  ideas  of  the  owner.  In  remote 
districts  where  land  is  being  cleared  the  standing  cordwood  material 
is  sometimes  given  away.  Slash  from  lumbering  operations  is  also 
frequently  given  away  for  the  cutting  or  is  sold  at  a  nominal  price. 

Timber  of  better  quality  than  cordwood  material  may  naturally  be 
expected  to  sell  for  higher  prices  than  seems  justified  when  compared 
89354°— 18 2 


10 


BULLETIN  753,   U.   S.    DEPARTMENT  OF   AGRICULTURE. 


with  reasonable  cordwood  stumpage  prices.  Such  material  should, 
however,  not  be  so  used  except  in  cases  of  emergency,  when  other 
stumpage  can  not  be  secured.  It  is  reasonable  that  higher  prices 
should  be  paid  for  stumpage  when  the  area  is  to  be  cut  clear  than 
when  only  an  improvement  cutting  is  to  be  made,  since  the  latter 
method  increases  the  cost  of  cutting  somewhat  and  besides  takes 
material  of  the  least  value,  the  removal  of  which  is  a  distinct  benefit 
to  the  forest.  In  many  cases  an  owner  can  well  afford  to  give  mate- 
rial from  improvement  cuttings  or  thinnings  to  anyone  who  will 
cut  it. 

Average  stumpage  prices  ordinarily  range  from  50  cents  to  $1.50 
per  cord. 

ESTIMATING  STANDING  CORDWOOD. 

While  cordwood  is  generally  sold  on  the  basis  of  measurement  after 
it  is  cut  and  corded  up,  it  is  frequently  desirable,  especially  in  case 
of  buying  entire  tracts,  to  estimate  the  amount  of  wood  while  still 
standing.  This  can  be  done  by  methods  similar  to  those  used  for 
saw  timber.  Table  5 1  shows  roughly  the  number  of  trees  of  different 
diameters  required  to  make  a  cord. 

TABLE  5. — Number  of  trees  required  to  yield  1  cord. 


Diameter  of  tree  (breast  high,  outside  bark). 

Hardwoods. 

Soft- 
woods. 

Northern 
(beech 
birch, 
maple, 
etc.). 

Southern 
(chestnut, 
oak,  hick- 
ory, etc.). 

Inches. 
2.. 

170 
90 
50 
25 
17 
13 
9 
7 
6 
5 
4 
3.4 
3.0 
2.5 
2.2 
2.0 
1.8 
1.5 
1.3 
1.2 
1.1 
1.0 
.9 

3   . 

4  

5.. 

35 
20 
15 
11 
8 
6 
5 
4 
3.5 
3.0 
2.5 
2.0 
1.7 
1.5 
1.3 
1.2 
1.0 
.9 
.8 
.7 

6 

7  

20 
13 
10 
8 
7 
6 
4.5 
3.7 
3.0 
2.5 
2.1 
1.9 
1.6 
1.5 
1.4 
1.2 
1.1 
1.0 

8   . 

9 

10.. 

11   . 

12 

13.  . 

14 

15... 

16.. 

17.  . 

18 

19.  .. 

20 

21 

22  

23.  .                                                     

24 

The  figures  given  are  for  trees  of  average  height;   allowances 
should  be  made  in  case  of  unusually  short  or  tall  timber. 


i"  Measuring   and   Marketing   Woodlot   Products,"    Farmers'    Bulletin   715,    by    W.    B. 
Mattoon  and  W.  B.  Barrows. 


THE  USE   OF   WOOD  FOR  FUEL.  11 

FELLING. 

On  the  farms  a  time  when  labor  can  not  be  used  at  other  work  is 
the  best  time  to  cut  wood;  winter,  late  fall,  and  early  spring  are 
therefore  generally  the  seasons  when  most  wood  fuel  is  cut.  In  the 
South,  where  the  slack  season  comes  at  a  different  time,  summer 
may  prove  the  best  season.  However,  there  is  no  good  reason  why, 
if  labor  is  available,  fuel  wood  may  not  be  cut  at  any  time. 

In  the  case  of  hardwoods  which  reproduce  readily  from  sprouts 
the  time  of  cutting  is  of  some  importance.  The  sprouts  will  start 
immediately  if  the  timber  is  cut  in  the  summer  or  early  fall  but 
will  not  be  strong  enough  to  stand  the  winter,  with  the  result  that 
the  reproduction  will  be  winter-killed.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
timber  is  cut  in  the  winter  the  sprouts  will  grow  during  the  spring 
and  summer  to  such  a  size  and  hardihood  as  to  be  immune  from 
winter-killing.  Winter  cutting  should  therefore  be  practiced  with 
species  which  sprout,  if  reproduction  is  desired. 

Cordwood  is  generally  felled  and  cut  into  4-foot  or  sled  lengths 
with  axes,  or  in  some  cases  where  larger  trees  are  cut,  with  crosscut 
saws.  Owing  to  the  small  size  of  the  material  generally  cut  this  is 
the  most  economical  method  of  felling  the  trees.  A  number  of 
power-driven  tree- felling  machines  have  been  devised,  but  none  of 
them  have  proved  practical,  and  even  if  they  should  become  so  their 
value  would  be  in  felling  trees  of  large  size. 

The  cost  of  cutting  cordwood  varies  with  the  prevailing  wages 
of  the  region  and  with  the  kind  of  timber  cut.  Woodcutters'  wages 
run  from  less  than  $2  to  more  than  $4  per  day,  or  where  paid  by  the 
cord,  as  is  general  in  some  regions,  from  about  $2  to  $3.50  per  cord. 

The  quantity  of  wood  which  can  be  cut  per  day  per  man.  is,  of 
course,  the  real  basis  of  the  cutting  cost  and  depends  most  on  the 
skill  of  the  workman  and  on  the  kind  of  wood.  Inefficient  labor  will 
produce  but  one-half  cord  of  hardwood  or  1  cord  of  softwood  per 
day,  whereas  good  skilled  workmen  will  cut  from  1J  to  2  cords  of 
hardwood  or  from  3  to  4  cords  of  softwood  per  day.  In  one  instance 
men  inexperienced  in  timber  work,  such  as  business  men  from  town, 
cut  in  hardwoods  at  the  rate  of  two-thirds  of  a  cord  per  day  for  the 
first  day. 

These  figures  include  both  felling  the  trees  and  cutting  them  up 
into  4-foot  lengths.  If  material  is  cut  sled  length,  as  is  frequently 
done,  more  can  be  cut  in  a  day. 

SKIDDING  AND  HAULING. 

In  probably  the  majority  of  cases  the  practice  is  to  cut  wood  into 
4- foot  lengths  and  pile  it  close  to  where  the  trees  are  cut,  and  to  haul 
it  direct  from  these  piles  to  consumers. 


12  BULLETIN  753,  U.   S.   DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

In  many  cases,  however,  the  trees  are  merely  trimmed  or  cut  into 
sled  lengths  and  hauled  to  the  consumer  to  be  sawed  into  stove 
lengths,  or  to  central  points  in  the  woodlot  or  along  a  road  to  be 
cut  up  and  piled  for  future  hauling.  It  is  possible  that  extension  of 
this  practice  may  in  many  instances  considerably  reduce  the  cost  of 
producing  wood  fuel,  both  by  reducing  the  amount  of  hand  labor 
required  in  cutting  up  the  material,  in  centralizing  the  work  of  cut- 
ting it  up,  and  in  increasing  the  amount  which  can  be  hauled  by  re- 
ducing its  weight  through  seasoning. 

Skidding  or  hauling  out  to  a  roadway  or  central  point  should  not 
cost  over  $1  per  cord. 

SAWING  AND  SPLITTING. 

Stove  wood  is  no  longer  "  bucked  up  "  by  hand  with  a  bucksaw, 
except  in  isolated  cases.  Few  men  can  saw  more  than  from  1^  to  2 
cords  of  4-foot  wood  into  16-inch  lengths  in  a  day,  while  with  power 
saws  of  from  6  to  10  horsepower  a  three-man  crew  can  saw  up  from 
10  to  15  cords  per  day. 

For  ordinary  use  a  24  or  26.-inch  circular  saw,  driven  by  a  6  to  12 
horsepower  gasoline  or  kerosene  engine,  is  used.  The  engine  and 
saw  frame  are  mounted  on  a  truck  so  as  to  be  readily  moved  from 
place  to  place.  Long  sticks  can  be  cut  up  by  such  a  saw  as  easily 
as  4- foot  pieces,  except  that  in  case  of  larger  wood  one  or  more  addi- 
tional men  will  be  required  to  pass  wood  to  the  saw.  At  the  present 
time  complete  sawing  outfits  cost  from  $200  to  $500,  depending  on 
the  horsepower  and  the  size  of  the  saw.  Saw  blades  cost  from  $6  to 
$12,  and  saw  frames  from  $30  to  $40. 

Farmers  who  do  not  have  this  equipment  and  whose  requirements 
will  not  warrant  such  an  investment  may  hire  such  a  saw  and  engine 
and  exchange  the  necessary  labor  in  its  operation  within  the  com- 
munity, as  is  frequently  done  in  grain  thrashing.  Many  have  gaso- 
line or  kerosene  engines  or  tractors,  and  a  small  portable  saw  would 
therefore  be  a  comparatively  minor  investment  and  would  pay  for 
itself  in  working  up  the  average  wood  lot.  It  could  be  used  every 
winter  in  cutting  the  yearly  supply  as  well  as  a  surplus  which  might 
be  marketed.  Good  opportunities  exist  for  operators  of  thrasher 
and  silo-filling  outfits  to  do  custom  sawing  during  the  winter. 

For  cutting  large  logs  there  are  on  the  market  several  types  of 
power-driven  drag-saws,  such  as  are  in  common  use  in  lumber  opera- 
tions in  the  Pacific  Northwest.  These  machines,  which  are  generally 
operated  by  a  4-horsepower  gasoline  engine,  can  be  carried  from 
log  to  log  by  two  men,  and  cut  logs  up  to  7  feet  in  diameter.  It  is 
claimed  that  they  can  cut  from  10  to  30  cords  of  firewood  (soft- 
woods) in  10  hours. 


Bui.  753,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


PLATE  IV. 


F— 51620 

FIG.  I.— SAWING  BLUE  GUM  (EUCALYPTUS)  WOOD  WITH  GASOLINE  ENGINE. 

Rate  1J  to  2  cords  per  hour.     Santa  Fe  Springs,  Cal. 


FIG.  2.— LOAD  OF  HACKBERRY  POLES  ON  PUBLIC  SQUARE  FOR  SALE  AT  $2.50 
PER  LOAD,  GALLATIN,  TENN. 


Bui.  753,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


PLATE  V. 


FIG.  I.— Buzz  SAW,  POWER  SPLITTER,  AND  CONVEYOR,  SET  UP  AT 
DOVER,  MASS. 

Photo  by  W.  D.  Clark. 


FIG.  2.— TABLE  SAW  AND  SPLITTER  OPERATED  IN  A  MASSACHUSETTS 
FARMER-S  WOODSHED. 

Photo  by  W.  D.  Clark. 


THE  USE  OF  WOOD  FOR  FUEL.  13 

These  machines  weigh  from  150  to  200  pounds,  and  cost  from 
$170  to  $200.  They  are  probably  not  practical  for  ordinary  cord- 
wood  operations  where  the  trees  are  of  comparatively  small  size. 
The  cost  of  sawing  with  power  saws  depends,  of  course,  upon  the 
kind  and  size  of  wood  sawed  and  upon  the  prevailing  rate  of  wages. 
With  three  or  four-men  crews,  wages  of  30  to  35  cents  per  hour, 
and  a  cut  of  16  to  20  cords  per  day,  the  average  is  as  follows : 

Cents  per  cord. 
Labor 50 

Gasoline 9 

Oil 1 

Depreciation,  interest,  etc .! 10 

Total 70 

Charges  for  custom  work  were  from  50  cents  to  $1  per  cord,  de- 
pending on  the  number  of  cuts  and  the  kind  of  wood,  but  are  now 
between  75  cents  and  $1.50. 

Splitting  is  still  largely  done  by  hand,  often  by  the  consumer  in 
his  spare  time,  so  that  its  cost  is  not  an  item  to  be  considered  in  the 
price  he  pays  for  wood.  Although  much  larger  amounts  have  been 
split  by  expert  axmen,  an  average  man  will  seldom  split  more  than 
four  cords  of  stove  wood  per  day.  The  amount  depends,  of  course, 
on  the  species  of  wood.  Some  woods,  such  as  birch,  maple,  and  most 
conifers,  split  very  easily;  others,  such  as  elm,  sycamore,  gum,  and 
apple,  are  very  hard  to  split.  Most  woods  split  more  readily  when 
green  or  partly  dry  than  when  dry.  Splitting  machines  are  now 
coming  into  more  general  use  around  woodyards  where  considerable 
quantities  of  wood  are  handled.  These  machines  are  driven  by  the 
same  engines  which  run  the  cutting-up  saws,  and  sawing  and  split- 
ting are  done  at  the  same  time.  Two  men  with  such  a  machine  can 
split  the  wood  as  it  comes  from  the  saw.  By  installing  an  automatic 
carrier  from  saw  to  splitter  one  man  can  operate  the  latter.  (See 
fig.  1.)  Splitting  by  machine  should  not  cost  more  than  75  cents 
per  cord.  By  hand  it  costs  around  $1  per  cord. 

SEASONING. 

The  seasoning  of  wood  for  fuel  is  important,  because  dry  wood 
has  a  somewhat  greater  heating  value  than  green  wood,  is  much 
more  convenient  to  use,  and  is  very  much  lighter  in  weight  and 
therefore  can  be  handled  at  less  cost.  In  general  it  seasons  more 
rapidly  in  the  late  spring  and  summer  than  during  the  remainder  of 
the  year,  and  most  slowly  when  cut  in  late  winter.  The  fact  that 
checking  is  severe  in  summer  does  not  matter,  as  this  does  not  injure 
fuel  wood. 

The  method  of  stacking  depends  primarily  upon  the  rapidity  with 
which  it  is  desired  to  have  the  wood  seasoned.  A  common  practice 


14 


BULLETIN  753,  U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 


Four  foot  wood 


Building 


is  to  pile  the  4-foot  lengths  in  compact  piles  resting  on  two  bed  pieces. 
This  does  very  well  when  the  wood  is  to  season  for  six  months  or 
longer,  but  a  different  procedure  must  be  adopted  where  more  rapid 
seasoning  is  desired.  The  most  open  form  of  pile  is  the  so-called  "log- 
cabin  "  style.  A  pile  which  gives  almost  as  good  results  without  occu- 
pying nearly  as  much  space  has  alternate  tiers  resting  on  single  sticks 

at  each  end.    There 

Yard  is  ample  ventilation 

through  the  alter- 
nate open  layers. 

It  is  very  im- 
portant for  rapid 
seasoning  to  place 
the  piles  so  that  the 
air  will  circulate 
readily  through 
them.  The  ideal 
place  for  this  pur- 
pose is  an  open  field, 
preferably  on  a  hill- 
top. The  direction 
toward  which  the 
piles  face  is  not 
very  important  if 
there  is  good  air 
circulation.  The 
best  results  will  be 
obtained  in  season- 
ing if  the  piles  are 
so  constructed  as  to 
shed  rain  as  much 
as  possible. 

Cordwood  of  the 
ordinary  species 
requires  a  period  of 
from  9  to  12  months 
to  season  thor- 
oughly, although  the  moisture  content  will  be  reduced  to  about  35  per 
cent  in  three  months'  time,  depending  somewhat  on  the  season  of  the 
year.  Wood  of  three  months'  seasoning  has  from  85  to  95  per  cent 
as  much  fuel  value  as  wood  of  the  same  species  thoroughly  seasoned. 
Even  green  wood  has  a  heating  value  of  80  per  cent  or  more  of  that 
of  dry  wood. 

TRANSPORTATION. 

Ordinarily  wood  fuel  is  used  within  5  to  10  miles  of  the  locality 
where  it  is  produced,  because  its  great  bulk  makes  it  expensive  to  ship. 


_| 


FIG.    1.— Plan 


of   a   retail   wood   dealer's 
and  splitting  cordwood. 


plant    for   sawing 


THE   USE   OF   WOOD  FOR  FUEL. 


15 


It  is  commonly  hauled  from  the  woods  to  consumers  or  to  dealers 
in  towns  by  team  or  auto  trucks.  The  cost  of  hauling  is  determined, 
of  course,  by  the  length  of  haul  and  by  the  amount  that  can  be  hauled 
per  trip,  which  depends  upon  the  condition  of  the  roads  and  upon 
the  species  and  dryness  of  the  wood.  The  lowest  cost  for  a  given 
operation  can  be  attained  by  letting  the  wood  season  thoroughly 
where  it  is  cut  and  doing  the  hauling  when  the  roads  are  best. 

Where  much  of  the  haul  must  be  over  woods  roads  or  other  roads 
which  are  normally  in  poor  condition,  winter  hauling  on  sleds  is 
favored,  since  larger  loads  can  be  taken  in  this  way.  The  chief  disad- 
vantage in  depending  on  this  method  is  the  possibility  of  deep  snow 
interfering  with  the  hauling.  Where  the  wood  can  be  skidded 
out  and  piled  beside  good  roads  summer  hauling  by  auto  trucks  is 
by  far  the  most  economical  way  to  get  wood  to  market. 

Costs  for  hauling  wood  by  team  may  be  put  at  about  50  to  75  cents 
per  cord  per  mile.  The  following  tables,1  which  show  approximate 
costs  of  hauling  northern  hardwoods,  may  be  taken  as  fairly  typical 
of  the  northern  and  eastern  States : 

TABLE  6. — Team  capacity  per  day  for  hauling  various  distances. 


Sizes. 

Number  of  cords  per  day  per  team. 

Imile. 

2 
miles. 

3 

miles. 

miles. 

5 

miles. 

6 
miles. 

7 
miles. 

8 
miles. 

9 
miles. 

10 
miles. 

Long  wood  

7 
5 
4 

6 
4 
3 

5 
3 

2* 

3 

? 

2 
2 
11 

if 

il 

1 

1 
1 
1 

1 
1 
1 

1 
1 

1 

4-foot  wood 

16-inch,  stove  wood  .  . 

TABLE  7. — Cost  of  team-hauling  per  short  cord  of  16-inch  lengths,  for  different 
distances  and  at  different  wage  rates,  including  charge  of  26  cents  for 
handling. 


Distance  from  town  (miles). 

Trips 
per 
day. 

Cords 
hauled 
per  day. 

Approximate  cost  per  cord,  with  team 
wage  of— 

$4.50  per  day. 

$5  per  day. 

$6  per  day. 

5  and  over 

1 
2 
3 
4 

3-4 
6-8 
9-12 
12-16 

I1.40-J1.75 
.  80-  1.  00 
.65-    .75 
.55-    .65 

I1.50-J1.95 
.90-  1.10 
•      .65-    .80 
.55-    .65 

$1.75-J2.25 
1.00-1.25 
.75-    .90 
.65-    .75 

3  to  4. 

2to3  

Ito2.. 

Although  wood  fuel  can  not  as  a  general  thing  be  economically 
shipped  to  market,  it  is  in  certain  instances  practicable  to  do  so, 
especially  in  districts  remote  from  the  coal  regions.  Since  shipment 
by  water  is  the  cheapest  method  of  transportation,  towns  on  navi- 
gable rivers  and  inlets  along  which  are  supplies  of  fuel  wood  are  in 
the  best  position  to  get  wood  at  a  reasonable  cost.  Washington, 


1  "  The   Price  of  Fuel  Wood,' 
Michigan,  Mar.  1,  1918. 


by   William   K.   Prudden,    State   fuel   administrator   of 


16  BULLETIN  753,  U.  S.   DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

D.  C.,  uses  normally  about  17,000  cords  of  wood  fuel  annually,  most 
of  which  is  brought  up  the  Potomac  by  sailboats  with  an  average 
capacity  of  30  cords. 

Freight  rates  on  cordwood  vary  in  different  sections  of  the  country 
and  on  different  railroads.  At  this  time,  on  account  of  readjust- 
ments, it  is  not  possible  to  give  very  definite  information  on  freight 
rates.  Recently  the  rate  for  distances  of  about  10  miles  has  averaged 
about  50  to  60  cents,  and  has  sometimes  reached  $1.  Around  100 
miles  the  rate  has  averaged  $1.50  per  cord,  but  has  in  some  cases  been 
as  low  as  $1  and  in  others  as  high  as  $2. 

CAE  CAPACITIES. 

The  minimum  carload  measurements  on  cordwood  are  as  follows: 

Number  of 

cords  per  car. 

Dry.  Green. 

In  box  cars  34  feet  4  inches  and  less  in  length,  inside  measurement—  12  12 
In  box  cars  over  34  feet  4  inches  in  length  and  8  feet  and  over  in 

height,  inside  measurement . *  17    *  16 

In  box  cars  over  34  feet  4  inches  in  length  and  under  8  feet  in  height, 

inside  measurement 16      15 

On  flat  or  gondola  cars  34  feet  4  inches  and  less  in  length 12      12 

On  flat  or  gondola  cars  between  36  and  34  feet  4  inches  in  length 18      16 

WEIGHTS. 

The  following  estimates  are  used  for  cordwood  in  shipments  by 
rail  when  actual  weights  can  not  be  obtained : 

Degree  of  seasoning.  Pounds  per  cord. 

Dry 3,650 

Partly  seasoned 4, 600 

Green ^ 5,200 

Mixed 4,600 

Approximate  weights  per  cord 2  of  a  number  of  the  more  important 
fuel  wood  species  are : 

Green.       Air  dry. 
Pounds.     Pounds. 

Ash,  white '_ 4,  300  3,  800 

Beech 5,  000  3,  900 

Birch,  yellow 5,100  4,000 

Chestnut 4, 900  2,  700 

Cottonwood 4,200  2, 500 

Elm 4,400  3, 100 

Hickory 5,700  4, 600 

Maple,  sugar 5,  000  3, 900 

Maple,  red 4, 700  3,  200 

Oak,  red 5,800  3,900 

Oak,  white 5,600  4,300 

Willow 4,  600  2,  300 

1  Where  the  wood  is  16  inches  or  less  in  length,  the  capacities  for  these  dimensions  for 
dry  'and  green  wood  are  16  and  15  cords,  respectively. 

2  TJ.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  Farmers'  Bulletin  715,  "  Measuring  and  Marketing 
Woodlot  Products." 


THE   USE  OF   WOOD  FOR  FUEL.  17 

In  loading  and  unloading  from  cars  or  boats  one  man  can  handle 
from  7  to  10  cords  of  4-foot  wood  per  day  and  from  6  to  8  cords  of 
16-inch  wood. 

METHODS  OF  SELLING. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  fuel  wood  is  not  transported  any  great  dis- 
tance or  marketed  on  an  extensive  wholesale  scale,  some  organiza- 
tion is  needed  for  its  marketing  and  local  distribution.  In  com- 
munities where  there  are  regular  wood  dealers  the  problem  of  bring- 
ing the  producer  and  consumer  together  is  simple.  Such  men  have, 
of  course,  made  a  study  of  the  problem  and  are  better  qualified 
than  anyone  else  to  perform  this  service.  Unfortunately,  however,  in 
a  great  many  communities  the  amount  of  cordwood  sold  has  been 
so  small  in  the  past  that  it  has  not  been  worth  anyone's  while  to  go 
into  the  business  of  marketing  firewood.  In  such  communities  the 
usual  practice  has  been  for  the  woodlot  owners  to  make  a  house-to- 
house  canvass  with  their  loads.  This  is  usually  an  expensive  way  of 
marketing  wood,  for  the  producer  spends  a  large  amount  of  time  in 
finding  a  customer.  A  substitute  for  this  canvass  is  the  advertising 
of  wood  either  in  the  papers  or  by  posters  at  public  places. 

The  possibility  of  selling  cordwood  through  coal  or  lumber  dealers 
deserves  attention  in  every  locality.  This  would  have  the  advantage 
of  making  possible  a  reduction  in  cost  by  using  power  saws  at  their 
yards  to  cut  the  wood  into  stove  lengths*  A  still  better  plan  is  for 
communities  to  establish  and  control  their  own  municipal  wood  yards, 
at  which  producers  can  deliver  wood  and  receive  pay  for  it  according 
to  a  regular  schedule  of  prices. 


MUNICIPAL  WOOD  YABDS. 


Municipal  wood  yards,  war  fuel  companies,  and  similar  organiza- 
tions have  been  tried  with  fair  success.  Their  field  of  usefulness 
will  doubtless  be  greatly  increased  as  their  need  is  more  clearly  appre- 
ciated and  their  effectiveness  becomes  more  apparent.  Some  organi- 
zation is  needed  to  keep  alive  the  wood-fuel  idea  between  seasons 
and  to  see  that  wood  is  cut,  even  though  it  does  not  seem  immediately 
necessary.  Every  community  should  by  means  of  a  municipal  wood 
yard  or  otherwise  get  in  a  reserve  of  wood  for  the  winter,  sufficient 
to  insure  its  members  against  a  fuel  famine.  One  city  in  New  Eng- 
land has  made  plans  to  purchase  100,000  cords  of  wood  as  a  fuel 
reserve  for  the  city.  In  one  Southern  State  there  are  already  some 
30  municipal  wood  yards  in  operation,  and  plans  are  being  made  to 
have  one  in  practically  every  community  in  the  State.  If  this  is 
necessary  in  the  South  it  is  much  more  urgent  in  the  North,  where 
89354°— 18 3 


18  BULLETIN  753,   U.  S.   DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

the  winters  are  longer,  and  snow,  especially  in  northern  New  Eng- 
land, makes  it  practically  impossible  to  get  out  much  wood  in  the 
depth  of  winter. 

A  yard  established  in  1917  at  Durham,  N.  C.,  purchased  1,260 
cords  of  wood  at  an  average  cost  at  the  yard  of  $5  a  cord.  Wood 
was  delivered  at  an  average  cost  to  the  consumer  of  $7.  It  came 
from  two  sources — a  sawmill  about  14  miles  distant  from  which  slabs 
were  shipped  by  rail,  and  a  farmer's  woodland  from  which  cordwood 
in  8- foot  lengths  was  secured.  The  slabs  were  mostly  green  pine 
of  odd  lengths,  for  which  $2  per  cord  was  charged  f.  o.  b.  cars. 
Freight  charges  amounted  to  about  75  cents  per  cord.  The  coal  and 
wood  yard  is  adjacent  to  the  railroad  tracks,  and  the  wood  was  un- 
loaded from  the  cars  exactly  where  needed  by  the  sawyers.  The 
wood  from  the  farmers'  woodlands  near  by  was  green  pine  and  oak, 
cut  in  8-foot  lengths  and  split  in  halves  or  quarters.  The  price  was 
$3.50  per  cord  piled  in  the  woods.  It  was  hauled  from  the  woods  to 
the  roadside  by  six  county  teams  and  there  piled  in  a  long  rick,  from 
which  it  was  loaded  upon  motor  trucks.  Three  trucks  were  used, 
each  making  four  trips  a  day  and  carrying  about  1  cord  per  ton  of 
rated  capacity,  so  that  the  total  daily  Delivery  was  about  40  cords. 
The  cost  of  hauling  was  about  $1  per  cord ;  it  would  have  been  less 
if  there  had  been  better  loading  and  unloading  facilities.  The  dis- 
tance was  2J  to  3  miles.  (See  fig.  2.) 

Cordwood  was  sold  according  to  the  cubic  contents  of  the  wagon 
boxes,  most  of  the  wood  being  sold  at  the  yard.  The  estimated  cost  of 
sawing  to  stove  length  was  50  cents  per  cord  on  the  yard. 

MEASURING  WOOD  FUEL. 

COEDS. 

A  standard  cord  of  firewood  is  a  pile  8  by  4  by  4  feet,  which  con- 
tains 128  cubic  feet  of  stacked  wood.  It  is  customary  to  pile  green 
wood  2  or  3  inches  higher  than  4  feet  to  allow  for  shrinkage  and  set- 
tling as  it  dries.  In  measuring  piles  of  wood  the  average  dimensions 
are  taken. 

A  "  running  "  cord  or  "  face  "  cord,  8  feet  long  by  4  feet  high  and 
12,  16,  or  24  inches  wide,  according  to  the  length  to  which  it  is  cut 
for  use,  is  frequently  called  a  cord  in  the  market. 

Though  a  cord  contains  128  cubic  feet  the  space  occupied  includes 
air  as  well  as  wood.  The  actual  solid  contents  of  a  cord  is  only  about 
70  per  cent  of  this  amount,  or  90  cubic  feet  for  wood  of  average  size. 
For  small  sticks,  where  the  average  diameter  is  4  inches  or  less,  there 
are  less  than  80  cubic  feet  per  cord;  in  the  case  of  larger  sticks  10 
inches  or  over  in  diameter  there  may  be  as  much  as  100  cubic  feet  per 


THE  USE  OF  WOOD  FOR  FUEL. 


19 


cord.  Crooked,  rough  sticks  can  not  be  piled  as  closely  as  straight, 
smooth  sticks.  Therefore  there  is  less  wood  in  a  cord  of  crooked 
sticks  than  in  a  cord  of  straight  sticks. 


STUM  PAGE 
Actual  cwt  if    pur- 
chased, otherwise 
market  value. 

CUTTING-STACKING 

Includes  such  items  a  a, 
f«llmg.bttckin«.  skidding 
to  road.  and  staking. 

.Buct<in<?  WillncoA*   »«*S  if 

weed  is  hauled«fe44«M9tX 

HAULING 

Includes  load  ing.hau  ling 
by  sled,  wogort,  truck,  rait, 
or  boat.and  unloading. 

PROFIT 
To  producer.  In  cose  of 

farmer  usually  assert- 
ed in  stumpao,*  or  his 
own  wages  • 

WOOD  DEALER 


COST  OF   WOOD 
4-- FOOT  OR    SLED -LENGTH 
DELIVERED  TO 


CONSUMER 


MUNICIPAL    OR 
COMMUNITY 
YARD 


SAWING  a    SPLITTING 

Includes   labor  oil,  gas 
etc.anH  depreciation  and 

maintenance  of  equip  men*. 


SELLING  a  OVER  HEAD 
Includes  advertising,  rentals, 
yard  and  office  expenses 
salaries,  insurance,  taxes* 


DELIVERY 

Includes  loading,  transport- 
ation, unloading 


INTEREST 
On  fi»ad  investment 
and  working  capital 


SAWING  a  SPLITTJNG 

Some  as  for  dealer  If  consum- 
er uses  own  machinery-mother - 
wise  price  paid  for  custom  work 
if  he  works  up  wood  by  hand 
in  spar*  time, -cost  nominal 


COST  TO    CONSUMER  OF 
WOOD     READY  TO   BURN 


5AWING    8  SPLITTING 
Same  as  for  deqter. 


OVERHEAD 

Includes  such  i  ferns  as 
rentels  yard  and  office  e*- 
pcnaes,aalerie3,  insurance. 


DELIVERY 
5ome  a*  far  dealer. 


INTEREST 

Same  as  for  d* alar. 
Rate  may  b»  lower. 


FIG.  2. — The  elements  of  cost  of  wood  fuel. 


SELLING  WOOD  BY  WEIGHT. 


The  great  demand  for  fuel  wood  and  the  high  prices  during  the 
winter  of  1917-18  brought  out  plainly  the  inadequacy  of  the  cord 
unit  for  measuring  wood.  The  purchaser  of  fuel  wood  buys  it  not 
for  its  bulk  but  for  its  heating  value,  which  depends  not  upon  the 


20  BULLETIN  753,  U.  S.   DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

volume  of  wood  but  upon  its  weight.  A  pound  of  dry  wood  of  one 
species  has  about  the  same  number  of  heat  units  as  a  pound  of  any 
other  species ;  but  a  cord,  assuming  the  same  solid  volume  of  wood  in 
each  case  (90  cubic  feet),  of  basswood,  for  instance,  yields  but  12,- 
600,000  British  thermal  units,  while  a  cord  of  black  locust  yields 
26,500,000  British  thermal  units.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  can  not 
assume  the  same  solid  volume  in  two  cords  of  wood ;  a  loosely  piled 
cord  of  small,  round  sticks  may  contain  TO  cubic  feet  or  less,  while  a 
closely  piled  cord  of  large  split  wood  may  contain  over  100  cubic 
feet.  If  it  is  locust,  the  first  pile  will  yield  20,700,000  British  thermal 
units;  the  second,  29,600,000  units.  If  the  first  pile  is  basswood,  it 
will  have  a  heating  value  of  but  9,600,000  British  thermal  units.  The 
same  cord  of  wood  sawed  up  and  repiled  will  be  less  than  a  cord  in 
bulk,  though  its  heating  value  will  not  be  reduced;  thrown  loosely 
into  a  wagon  box,  it  will  fill  up  considerably  more  than  128  cubic 
feet,  but  will  not  give  off  any  more  heat. 

It  is  now  the  custom  in  most  places  to  sell  hardwoods  and  soft- 
woods at  slightly  different  prices  because  of  recognized  differences 
in  heating  values.  Branch  wood  is  frequently  sold  at  a  lower  price 
than  split  body  wood,  as  a  result,  partly  at  least,  of  a  hazy  recogni- 
tion of  the  fact  that  there  is  less  solid  wood  in  a  cord  of  the  former. 
Chestnut  and  hickory,  however,  are  frequently  mixed  together  as 
hardwood,  and  sold  at  a  given  price  regardless  of  whether  90  per  cent 
is  chestnut,  which  would  give  the  cord  a  low  heating  value,  or 
hickory,  which  would  give  it  a  high  value.  In  many  places  even  pine, 
oak,  and  hickory  are  indiscriminately  thrown  together  at  a  uniform 
price,  regardless  of  the  proportion  of  each,  so  that  one  man  may 
for  a  given  amount  of  money  buy  twice  as  much  heat  as  another. 

The  practice  prevalent  in  some  sections  of  selling  wood  by  the  load 
has  afforded  excellent  opportunities  for  profiteering  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  purchaser.  Few  people  would  buy  coal  by  the  load 
instead  of  by  the  ton,  yet  a  given  load  of  coal  can  not  vary  nearly 
so  much  in  heat  value  as  a  load  of  wood. 

A  better  way  to  sell  fuel  wood  would  be  by  weight,  which  is  entirely 
independent  of  species,  shape,  or  size  of  sticks,  or  of  method  of 
piling,  and  is  a  very  good  measure  of  the  fuel  value  of  thoroughly 
seasoned  wood.  Green  wood,  of  course,  varies  considerably  in  water 
content  and  therefore  in  fuel  value  per  unit  weight,  and  naturally 
would  be  sold  at  a  price  different  from  that  for  dry  wood.  The 
extreme  difference  in  heat  units  per  pound  between  green  and  dry 
wood  of  any  species  is  approximately  70  per  cent  of  the  dry  value ;  a 
pound  of  green  willow,  for  instance,  is  worth  about  one-third  as  much 
as  the  same  weight  of  dry  wood.  Green  wood  of  most  of  the  hard- 
woods commonly  used  for  fuel  has  about  half  the  heating  value  of 
dry  wood  of  the  same  weight. 


THE  USE  OF  WOOD  FOE  FUEL.  21 

If  weight  instead  of  volume  is  adopted  as  the  standard  measure,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  fix  certain  standards  as  to  time  of  seasoning  of 
wood  offered  for  sale.  This  can  easily  be  regulated  in  the  case  of 
larger  dealers,  wood  yards,  and  probably  without  serious  difficulty 
even  for  individual  farmers,  by  use  of  a  licensing  system  under  which 
a  seller  shall  be  required  to  certify  under  oath  as  to  the  date  when 
his  wood  was  cut. 

SELLING  PRICES  OF  WOOD  FUEL. 

The  Federal  Government  is  without  authority  to  fix  prices  on  wood 
fuel,  as  the  act  granting  this  power  for  coal  and  coke  does  not  cover 
wood.  Some  States,  however,  have  gone  ahead  and  set  price  limits 
on  the  ground  of  public  necessity  in  an  emergency.  While  this  may 
be  desirable  in  restricted  areas,  fixing  of  a  maximum  price  on  wood 
is  scarcely  a  good  general  policy,  for  two  reasons : 

First,  the  cost  of  producing  wood  fuel  depends  so  much  upon  local 
conditions  that  it  would  be  hard  to  adjust  prices  equitably. 

Second,  price-fixing  might  tend  to  limit  production  to  such  an  ex- 
tent as  to  aggravate  the  crisis  by  decreasing  the  amount  of  wood  fuel 
available  during  the  emergency. 

The  production  of  wood  will  be  greatest  if  prices  are  left  to  regu- 
late themselves,  possibly  with  some  local  supervision.  In  all  cases  the 
producer  of  wood  should  be  considered  entitled  to  a  reasonable  profit 
on  the  costs  of  his  operation.  Some  of  the  "  war  fuel  companies " 
which  were  formed  during  the  fuel  crisis  in  the  winter  of  1917-18 
limited  their  profits  to  6  per  cent.  Municipal  yards  as  a  rule  sell  at 
cost. 

MANUFACTURE  OF  SAWDUST  BRIQUETS.1 

Practically  all  of  the  European  machines  use  some  kind  of  binder 
mixed  with  the  sawdust,  or  rely  upon  the  resinous  material  in  the 
wood  to  hold  the  briquet  together,  but  American  and  Canadian  in- 
ventors have  apparently  preferred  mechanical  binders.  One  com- 
pany in  Los  Angeles  is  now  building  machines  for  the  manufacture 
of  briquets  of  the  wire-bound  type,  and  a  company  in  Vancouver 
is  perfecting  machines  for  making  the  rope-core  type.  As  far  as  can 
be  ascertained,  both  of  these  machines  give  promise  of  satisfactory 
service  under  conditions  of  continuous  operation.  Another  Van- 
couver company  is  manufacturing  machines  for  the  production  of 
briquets  composed  of  sawdust,  coal  dust,  and  binder  in  about  the  fol- 
lowing proportions:  Sawdust,  65  per  cent;  coal  dust,  25  per  cent; 
binder  (coal-tar  pitch,  petroleum  refuse,  or  sulphite  waste  liquor), 

1  "  Briquetting  of  Sawdust  on  a  Commercial  Basis,"  R.  Thelen,  forest  products  labora- 
tory, Madison,  Wis.,  in  Canada  Lumberman  and  Woodworker,  vol.  36,  No.  5,  pp.  39-40, 
Mar.  15,  1016. 


22  BULLETIN  753,  U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

jlcTper  cent.  These  briquets  are  hard  and  firm  and  resemble  coal 
briquets  in  general  appearance. 

Although  the  various  presses  differ  greatly  in  the  details  of  their 
construction,  most  of  them  work  on  the  cy Under- and-plunger  prin- 
ciple, the  plunger  being  driven  by  means  of  crank  and  connecting 
rod  or  by  some  toggle-joint  system  of  levers  so  designed  that  it  is 
capable  of  exerting  a  very  great  pressure  at  the  end  of  the  stroke. 
Practically  all  of  them  also  are  automatically  fed.  In  systems  in 

I  which  binders  such  as  pitch  are  used  and  in  those  in  which  the  resins 
of  the  wood  serve  as  binders,  it  is  necessary  to  provide  a  long  cooling 
trough,  sometimes  as  much  as  150  feet  in  length  for  the  finished 
briquets.  In  systems  using  mechanical  binders  these  cooling  troughs 
are  unnecessary. 

The  cost  of  manufacturing  briquets  is  not  inconsiderable,  conserva- 
tive estimates  placing  the  figures  at  not  less  than  $3  a  ton.  The  bulk 
of  the  fuel  prevents  its  economical  shipment  over  long  hauls.  This 
applies  both  to  the  finished  briquet  and  to  the  raw  sawdust.  It  is 
believed  that  the  ultimate  consumer  will  have  to  pay  at  least  $6  a 
ton  for  the  briquets  to  make  the  success  of  their  manufacture  assured. 

MANUFACTURE  OF  CHARCOAL.1 

There  are  two  chief  methods  of  producing  charcoal,  the  old  kiln 
method  and  the  modern  method  of  destructive  distillation  in  a  closed 
retort.  Most  of  the  commercial  charcoal  is  still  made  in  the  kiln,  the 
erection  and  operation  of  which  costs,  for  the  la'bor,  about  60  cents 
per  ton  of  charcoal. 

Wood  loses  75  per  cent  in  weight  and  50  per  cent  in  volume  in  char- 
ring. Two  cords  of  hardwood  will  yield  1  ton  of  charcoal ;  1  bushel 
of  charcoal,  the  selling  unit,  weighs  about  25  pounds. 

For  making  charcoal  the  wood  should  be  thoroughly  seasoned, 
free  from  knots,  and  of  but  one  species  for  each  kiln  charge. 

The  ground  is  prepared  near  water  by  leveling  and  hoeing  the 
soil,  removing  roots  and  stones,  and  raising  the  center  of  the  circle 
to  be  occupied  by  the  kiln  about  10  inches  above  its  circumference. 
The  usual  diameter  of  the  circle  is  from  15  to  30  feet.  The  best  soil 
is  loamy  sand,  which  secures  proper  regulation  of  the  draft.  The 
site  should  be  protected  from  wind. 

A  "  chimney "  is  erected  by  placing  three  or  four  poles  of  even 
height  at  1  foot  distance  from  a  central  pole,  and  fastening  them 
around  the  central  pole  by  withes.  It  is  cylindrical  if  the  kiln  is 
lighted  from  above,  and  pyramidal  if  the  kiln  is  lighted  from  below ; 
and  is  filled  with  inflammable  substances,  such  as  dried  twigs,  char- 
coal, etc. 

i  Logging  and  Lumbering  or  Forest  Utilization,  pp.  167-168,  a  textbook  for  forest 
schools,  by  C.  A.  Scbenck,  director  Biltmore  Forest  School. 


THE  USE  OF  WOOD  FOE  FUEL.  23 

The  kiln  proper  is  then  constructed  in  a  parabolic  form.  It  con- 
sists of  two  or  more  tiers  of  billets  placed  more  or  less  vertically  with 
the  bark  turned  outward,  the  big  ends  downward,  the  smallest  pieces 
near  the  chimney  and  near  the  circumference,  the  largest  pieces 
halfway  between.  These  tiers  are  topped  by  a  cap,  consisting  of 
smaller  billets  placed  sloping.  If  the  chimney  is  cylindrical  it 
extends  through  the  cap;  if  it  is  pyramidal  it  is  closed  by  the  cap. 
In  the  latter  case  a  lighting  channel  is  left  on  the  ground  running 
radially  on  the  leeward  side  from  the  base  of  the  pyramidal  chimney 
to  the  circumference.  This  channel,  like  the  chimney,  is  filled  with 
inflammable  material.  All  irregularities,  interstices,  and  cracks 
showing  on  the  outside  of  the  kiln  are  stuffed  with  small  kindling. 
The  kiln  is  covered  by  two  draft-proof  layers  so  as  to  exclude  the  air ; 
first  the  vegetable  layer,  one-fourth  to  three- fourths  of  a  foot  thick, 
made  of  green  branches,  weeds,  leaf  mold,  and  moss;  second,  an 
earth  layer,  2  to  6  inches  thick,  consisting  of  loam,  charcoal  dust,  etc. 
If  the  kiln  is  lighted  from  below,  a  belt  about  1  foot  high  running 
around  the  circumference  on  the  ground  is  left  without  the  earth 
cover  until  the  fire  is  well  started.  The  earth  layer  and  the  vegetable 
layer  are  thoroughly  joined  by  beating  with  a  paddle. 

The  kiln  is  lighted  early  in  the  morning  on  a  quiet  day.  The  cylin- 
drical chimney  is  closed  on  top  as  soon  as  the  fire  is  well  started  in 
the  cap.  The  lighting  channel,  in  the  case  of  a  pyramidal  chimney,  is 
similarly  closed. 

The  regulation  of  the  fire  and  of  the  draft  are  the  most  important 
functions  of  the  attendant,  who  guides  the  fire  evenly  and  gradually 
from  the  cap  down  to  the  bottom.  To  check  the  draft  the  earth 
cover  is  increased.  To  increase  draft,  holes  of  about  1  inch  diameter 
are  made  through  the  cover  with  the  paddle  reversed.  If  the  wind 
is  strong  all  holes  are  closed  and  the  earth  cover  is  increased.  Cracks 
which  form  in  the  cover  must  be  closed  at  once.  The  kiln  may 
explode  if  the  cover  is  too  heavy  and  the  draft  too  strong.  In  dry 
weather  the  kiln  is  continuously  sprinkled.  The  color  of  smoke 
escaping  through  the  punctures  indicates,  by  turning  blue  and  trans- 
parent, the  completion  of  the  charring  process  above  the  puncture. 
The  old  punctures  are  then  closed  and  another  row  of  punctures  is 
made  about  2  feet  below  the  closed  holes. 

Refilling  is  required  where  dells  are  forming  irregularly,  while 
the  kiln  gradually  shrinks  to  one-half  of  its  original  volume.  For 
refilling,  the  cover  over  the  dell  is  quickly  removed,  all  holes  having 
been  closed  beforehand,  and  the  dell  is  rapidly  filled  with  new  wood. 

When  the  bottom  holes  show  the  proper  color  of  smoke,  the  char- 
ring process  is  completed.  All  holes  are  then  closed,  and  the  kiln 
is  allowed  to  cool.  The  duration  of  the  charring  process  is  from  6  to 


24  BULLETIN  753,  U.   S.   DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

28  days,  according  to  size  of  kiln.    The  contents  vary  from  4  to  60 
cords. 

Beginning  at  the  leeward  side  the  kiln  is  gradually  uncovered. 
The  crust  of  earth,  cut  into  fragments,  is  thrown  on  again.  The 
earth  trickling  down  quenches  the  fire.  After  another  12  to  24 
hours,  preferably  at  night,  the  coal  is  taken  out  in  patches  or  pockets, 
slowly  and  carefully,  so  as  to  prevent  the  flames  from  breaking  out. 
Water  must  be  at  hand  to  quench  incipient  fires. 

HOW  TO  USE  WOOD  FUEL. 

Coal  has  been  so  generally  used  lately  and  furnaces  and  stoves  have 
become  so  adapted  to  its  use  that  it  seems  impractical  to  many  to 
burn  wood  without  going  to  great  expense.  Such  is  not  usually  the 
case,  as  simple  adjustments  will  allow  wood  to  be  used  with  coal- 
burning  equipment.  The  size  of  the  firebox,  of  course,  gives  the 
greatest  difficulty,  since  in  many  cases  it  may  make  it  necessary  to 
cut  the  wood  into  very  small  blocks.  This  trouble,  however,  is  not  in- 
surmountable and  is  not  so  expensive  as  it  might  seem.  The  matter 
of  adjusting  the  drafts  and  arranging  the  grates  is  simple. 

Following  are  a  number  of  practical  directions  which  are  largely 
the  result  of  experience  in  changing  from  coal  to  wood  fuel. 

BURNING  WOOD  IN  STOVES. 

A  coal-burning  stove  can  be  converted  into  a  wood -burning  stove 
by  removing  the  fire  brick  and  substituting  lighter  bricks  at  a  cost 
of  about  $1.25.  Most  country  cook  stoves  can  burn  wood  with  little 
trouble.  If  a  stove  grate  is  too  coarse  for  wood,  a  sheet-iron  cover  over 
a  good  part  of  the  surface  will  make  it  suitable,  or  a  few  fire  bricks 
can  be  used.  Wood  grates  made  in  two  pieces  are  sold  which  can  be 
inserted  through  the  fire  door  and  placed  on  top  of  the  regular 
grate. 

BURNING  WOOD  IN  FURNACES.1 

Furnaces  are  built  especially  for  burning  wood  in  3  or  4  foot 
lengths.  Short  lengths,  of  course,  can  readily  be  burned  in  an  ordi- 
nary coal  furnace  or  in  a  box  stove,  though  this  is  rather  wasteful  of 
fuel.  Many  furnace  manufacturers,  however,  make  a  special  wood 
grate  for  use  in  their  furnaces.  One  advantage  in  burning  wood  is 
that  on  moderately  cool  days  the  furnace  can  be  run  at  a  lower  ebb 
than  when  coal  is  used,  consuming  only  enough  fuel  to  remove  the 
chill.  When  wood  is  used  in  a  round  pot  furnace  care  should  be 
taken  to  have  each  piece  lie  flat. 

Adapted  from  a  bulletin  by  E.  H.  Lockwood,  published  by  P.  B.  Noyes,  director  of 
conservation,  U.  S.  Fuel  Administration,  Washington,  D.  C. 


THE   USE    OF   WOOD  FOR  FUEL.  25 


USING   WOOD   ONLY. 


There  are  difficulties  in  burning  wood  as  a  substitute  for  coal  in  a 
steam,  hot-water,  or  warm-air  furnace,  but  it  can  be  done  with  a 
fair  degree  of  success,  especially  in  mild  weather. 

The  best  form  of  wood  is  short  blocks,  from  8  to  12  inches  long, 
preferably  of  hardwood,  although  mixed  hard  and  soft,  or  even 
softwood  alone,  can  be  used.  Medium-sized  pieces,  such  as  those 
found  in  ordinary  cord  wood,  are  suitable,  although  larger  pieces 
keep  the  fire  better. 

The  best  method  of  firing  is  to  keep  the  furnace  full  of  wood 
packed  close  with  a  moderate  draft  to  give  the  desired  amount  of 
heat.  As  the  wood  burns  more  should  be  added  in  order  to  keep  the 
deep  bed  of  burning  fuel,  which  is  most  economical. 

Banking  the  fire  at  night  requires  an  extra  supply  of  the  largest 
blocks  and  special  attention  to  closing  the  dampers  tight.  Experience 
will  show  the  best  way,  but  it  can  be  done  with  success  in  most 
furnaces. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  buy  new  grates  for  burning  wood,  although 
the  ordinary  coal  grate  is  not  well  adapted  for  wood.  A  good  way 
is  to  add  a  little  nut  coal  to  the  fire  at  the  start,  allowing  the  layer 
of  coal  ashes  to  remain  on  the  grates.  Air  required  for  combustion 
can  pass  through  the  ash  layer,  which  can  be  shaken  lightly  without 
much  loss  of  ashes.  The  larger  the  fire  box  the  better  the  results. 

A  furnace  designed  for  burning  coal  may  be  made  into  what  is 
known  as  a  "Wilson  heater,"  which  is  one  of  the  most  economical 
stoves  for  wood  burning,  by  removing  the  grate  bars  and  laying 
fire  brick  on  the  floor  of  the  ash  pit.  A  wood  fire  is  then  built  on 
the  fire  brick,  and  the  ash  pit  door  is  kept  tightly  closed  and  the 
ventilator  in  the  fuel  door  open.  A  wood  fire  can  in  this  way  be 
made  to  burn  very  slowly. 

USING  A  COMBINATION  OF  WOOD  AND  COAL. 

The  simplest  way  to  use  wood  in  a  coal  furnace,  and  the  most  effec- 
tive in  producing  heat,  is  to  combine  it  with  coal.  The  method  of 
firing  is  to  place  blocks  of  wood  on  the  fire  to  about  the  level  of  the 
fire  door,  instead  of  shoveling  on  coal  in  the  usual  way,  then  add 
coal  on  the  top,  which  will  fill  the  crevices  between  the  wood,  mak- 
ing a  level  fuel  bed  with  coal  on  top..  A  fuel  charge  of  this  kind 
will  produce  good  heat  but  will  not  last  as  long  as  a  fire  pot  full  of 
coal,  hence  more  frequent  attention  is  needed. 

From  25  to  50  per  cent  of  the  coal  ordinarily  used  can  be  saved  by 
substitution  of  wood  in  this  way.  Any  kind  or  size  of  wood  can 
be  used  that  will  go  into  the  fire  pot,  and  will  burn  with  good 
efficiency  when  surrounded  with  coal. 


26  BULLETIN  753,  U.   S.   DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

Any  size  of  coal  or  coke  can  be  used,  but  the  small  sizes  fill  in  best 
between  the  chinks  in  the  wood.  Buckwheat  coal  can  be  burned 
successfully  in  this  way,  and  its  low  price  will  help  to  offset  the 
higher  price  of  block  wood,  making  an  economical  combination. 

CAUTION. — When  burning  the  small  sizes  of  coal  take  care  to 
avoid  gas  explosions  by  always  leaving  a  flame  burning  on  some  part 
of  the  fire;  in  other  words,  do  not  cover  the  whole  fire  with  fresh 
fuel  at  one  time. 

BURNING  WOOD  IN  FIREPLACES. 

Where  a  fireplace  is  available  wood  can  be  used  to  good  advan- 
tage, affording  both  heat  and  ventilation.  Its  value  is  to  supple- 
ment a  furnace,  although  it  may  replace  the  furnace  in  fall  and 
spring  with  decided  economy. 

It  is  not  generally  realized  that  a  wood  fire  can  be  kept  burning 
night  and  day  in  a  fireplace  with  very  little  attention  and  with  small 
consumption  of  wood.  One  user  reports  continuous  use  of  a  fire- 
place in  this  way  for  over  a  month,  with  dry  chestnut  wood,  where 
the  amount  of  ashes  formed  by  a  month's  use  was  not  enough  to 
require  removal. 

The  secret  of  fireplace  management  is  a  plentiful  supply  of  ashes, 
kept  at  the  level  of  the  andirons.  As  the  blocks  burn,  an  accumu- 
lation of  glowing  charcoal  forms  in  the  ashes.  This  keeps  on  burn- 
ing slowly  and  assists  in  igniting  the  fresh  blocks  on  the  andirons. 
A  pocket  may  be  formed  in  the  ashes  into  which  the  hot  charcoal 
may  fall,  forming  a  heat  storage.  Two  or  three  blocks  on  the  and- 
irons with  the  hot  charcoal  in  the  ashes  will  form  an  excellent  fire. 

To  check  the  fire,  ashes  are  shoveled  over  one  or  more  of  the  blocks, 
covering  lightly  all  the  burning  wood.  This  will  not  put  out  the 
fire;  it  will  only  check  the  rate  of  burning,  so  that  red  charcoal  will 
be  found  when  the  ashes  are  removed  for  addition  of  fresh  fuel. 

Fireplace  wood  is  usually  cut  in  longer  lengths  than  stove  wood, 
but  the  ordinary  16-inch  stove  length  is  convenient.  Any  kind  of 
wood  can  be  used,  provided  it  is  dry  and  seasoned. 

A  banked  fire  will  keep  10  or  12  hours  and  will  send  some  heat 
from  the  hot  bricks  all  the  time.  A  well-managed  fireplace  will  be 
found  a  great  addition  to  the  heating  system  in  any  residence. 

INDUSTRIAL  USE  OF  WOOD  FUEL, 

Wood  is  very  generally  used  for  fuel  by  sawmills  and  wood- 
working plants.  For  this  purpose  it  is  burned  in  the  form  of  slabs, 
4  feet  or  so  long,  or  is  cut  up  into  "  hog  "  fuel  and  shoveled  or  fed 
automatically  into  the  fire  box.  In  these  cases  wood  fuel  is  a  by- 
product which  would  have  to  be  disposed  of  at  some  cost  if  not 
burned  for  fuel,  so  that  its  use  is  economical.  It  is  seldom  economical 


THE  USE   OF  WOOD  FOR  FUEL.  27 

to  buy  firewood  for  industrial  use,  except  to  keep  a  plant  running 
when  other  fuel  can  not  be  had. 

EFFICIENCY  OF  WOOD  FUEL. 
THEORETICAL  HEATING  VALUES  OF  WOOD. 

The  heating  power  or  fuel  value  of  a  given  volume  of  dry  wood 
is  in  direct  ratio  to  its  specific  gravity.  By  specific  gravity  is  meant 
the  ratio  of  the  weight  of  a  given  volume  of  wood  to  that  of  an 
equal  volume  of  water.  Water  weighs  a  little  over  62  pounds  per 
cubic  foot,  and  wood,  which  weighs  31  pounds  per  cubic  foot  when 
perfectly  dry,  is  said  to  have  a  specific  gravity  of  0.50,  and  so  on  for 
other  weights. 

In  theory  equal  weights  of  wood  ^ubstance  will  give  the  same 
amount  of  heat  regardless  of  the  species.  In  other  words,  a  hundred 
pounds  of  absolutely  dry  cottonwood  should  furnish  as  much  heat 
as  a  hundred  pounds  of  hickory.  In  reality  the  varying  forms  of 
tissue  found  in  the  different  species,  the  addition  of  resin,  gums, 
tannin,  oils,  and  pigments,  as  well  as  water  present  in  varying 
amounts,  cause  different  woods  to  have  different  heating  values. 
The  presence  of  rosin  in  wood  increases  the  heating  power  mate- 
rially, the  results  of  numerous  tests  showing  a  difference  ranging 
up  to  12  per  cent  or  more. 

The  composition  of  absolutely  dry  wood  is  approximately  as 
follows:  Carbon,  49  per  cent;  oxygen,  44  per  cent;  hydrogen,  6  per 
cent;  ash,  1  per  cent. 

This  is  fairly  constant  for  all  species,  except  as  modified  by  infil- 
trations, such  as  gums,  pigments,  resins,  tannin,  etc.,  so  that  equal 
weights  of  dry  nonresinous  woods  give  off  practically  the  same 
amount  of  heat  in  burning.  A  pound  of  thoroughly  dry  wood  will 
furnish  under  good  conditions  between  7,000  and  9,000  British  ther- 
mal units.  A  pound  of  good  coal  will  furnish  from  12,000  to  14,000 
units,  making  dry  wood  about  57  per  cent  as  efficient  as  coal. 

When  wood  containing  water  is  burned  part  of  the  heat  the  wood 
is  capable  of  yielding  is  taken  up  in  raising  the  water  to  the  boiling 
point  and  converting  it  into  steam.  The  steam  must  then  be  raised 
to  the  temperature  of  the  flue  gases.  All  this  heat  is  lost,  and  the 
greater  the  amount  of  water  present  the  more  heat  is  carried  off. 
The  water  in  green  wood  often  makes  up  half  of  the  total  weight, 
especially  in  sapwood.  After  such  wood  is  thoroughly  air-seasoned 
there  would  remain  about  20  per  cent  of  water.  If  the  wood  is  kiln- 
dried,  from  2  to  5  per  cent  of  water  remains,  and  if  it  is  exposed  to 
the  air,  this  percentage  is  increased  by  absorption  (hygroscopically) 
from  10  to  15  per  cent,  depending  upon  the  humidity. 

A  hundredweight  of  wood  as  sold  on  the  market  contains  about  25 
pounds  of  water,  74  pounds  of  wood  substance,  and  1  pound  of  ash. 


28 


BULLETIN  753,   U.   S.   DEPARTMENT   OF   AGRICULTURE. 


These  74  pounds  are  made  up  of  37  pounds  of  carbon,  4.4  pounds  of 
hydrogen,  and  32  pounds  of  oxygen.  The  oxygen  combines  with 
the  hydrogen  in  the  proportion  of  8  to  1,  producing  36  pounds  of 
water  and  leaving  four-tenths  of  a  pound  of  hydrogen  to  produce 
heat.  The  total  amount  of  water  to  be  evaporated  becomes  25  plus 
36,  or  61  pounds.;  the  amount  of  wood  substance  left  available  for 
heat  production  is  37.4  pounds  out  of  the  original  100  pounds. 

It  is  evident  that  the  greater  the  proportion  of  water  the  less  the 
amount  of  available  heat.  Only  about  one-half  of  the  weight  of 
wood  substances  produces  heat,  while  every  pound  of  water  com- 
bined in  the  wood  requires  1,108  units  of  heat  to  evaporate  it,  from 
ordinary  room  temperature  (70°  F.).  Hence  under  the  most  favor- 
able circumstances  the  heating  efficiency  of  a  pound  of  wood  con- 
taining 25  per  cent  moisture  will  be  less  than  that  of  dry  wood  not 
only  by  the  2,000  units  representing  the  weight  of  wood  replaced 
by  water,  but  also  by  one-fourth  of  1,108  units,  or  277  units,  so  that 
its  heating  value  is  but  5,723  units  instead  of  8,000,  or  72  per  cent  of 
that  of  a  pound  of  dry  wood.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  take  the 
pound  of  wet  wood  and  dry  it  out  absolutely,  so  that  it  weighs 
three-fourths  of  a  pound,  it  will  have  6,000  heat  units,  an  increase  in 
heating  value  due  to  drying  of  only  about  5  per  cent. 

COMPARATIVE  VALUES  OF  DIFFERENT  WOODS. 

The  comparative  values  of  fuel  of  various  species  of  American 
woods  are  shown  in  Table  8.  These  values  are  necessarily  some- 
what approximate  but  afford  a  good  basis  for  comparison  of  the 
different  species. 

TABLE  8. — Heat  values  of  cordwood,  based  on  Forest  Products  Laboratory 
(Madison,  Wis.),  weights  for  oven-dry,  air-dry,  and  green  woods  and  assum- 
ing 7,350  B.  t.  u.  available  per  pound  of  dry  wood  with  flue  gases  at  300°  F. 


Species. 

Available  heat  units 
per  cord  of  90  solid 
cubic  feet  (in  mil- 
lions B.  t.  u.). 

Percent  of  short- 
ton  coal  value. 

Air-dry. 

Green. 

Air-dry. 

Green. 

Alder  red.  (A  oregona)                                          

14.8 
20.7 
18.5 
21.3 
20.6 
19.7 
19.4 
20.5 
23.0 
14.1 
14.2 
12.6 
20.9 
18.2 
23.3 
20.9 
17.5 
17.5 

13.0 
20.0 
16.5 
20.7 
19.6 
19.0 
18.2 
19.9 
22.4 
12.1 
12.4 
11.0 
19.7 
16.7 
21.9 
19.4 
16.1 
15.7 

57 
80 
71 
82 
79 
76 
75 
79 
88 
54 
55 
48 
80 
70 
90 
80 
68 
68 

50 
77 
64 
80 
75 
73 
70 
77 
86 
47 
48 
42 
76 
64 
84 
75 
62 
60 

Ash  biltmore  (F  biltmoreana) 

black  (F  nigra)                                             

Blue  (F  quadrangulata) 

Green  (F  lanceolata).                                

Oregon  (F  oregona) 

Pumpkin  (F  profunda).  .  .                     

"WTiite  (F  americana) 

White  (second  growth) 

Aspen  (F  tremuloides)                                                 

Largetooth  (P  grandidentata) 

Basswood  (T  americana)  •-•                                      

Beech  (F  atropunicea) 

Birch,  paper  (  B  papyrif  era)  ....                          

Sweet  (B  lenta) 

Yellow  (B.  lutea)  ...                           

Gray  (B  populifolia)  »       .                                               .  .. 

Red  (B.  nigra)i... 

1  Gray  and  red  birch  estimated. 


THE  USE  OF   WOOD  FOB  FUEL.  29 

TABLE  8. — Heat  lvalues  of  cordwood,  based  on  Madison  Laboratory  iceights. — Con. 


Species. 

Available  heat  units 
per  cord  of  90  solid 
cubic  feet  (in  mil- 
lions B.  t.  u.). 

Per  cent  of  short- 
ton.  coal  value. 

Air-dry. 

Green. 

Air-dry 

Green. 

Buckeye  yellow  (A  octandra)                                           

12.8 
20.2 
14.3 
17.2 
18.5 
14.2 
15.6 
12.8 
15.0 
17.8 
25.2 
22.4 
18.4 
22.6 
19.1 
17.7 
18.5 
24.1 
18.5 
17.7 
19.1 
24.8 
24.8 
24.2 
25.4 
22.0 
24.2 
25.9 
25.4 
24.5 
19.6 
24.7 
20.7 
24.9 
26.5 
24.5 
22.6 
18.4 
17.7 
19.1 
17.9 
21.8 
22.6 
20.5 
27.5 
22.4 
24.0 
21.7 
25.3 
24.0 
21.7 
20.4 
24.0 
25.1 
21.7 
21.7 
23.9 
21.2 
22.0 
30.8 
25.0 
19-5 
17.2 
26.1 
17.2 
19.9 
17.9 
18.5 
18.5 
15.5 
20.8 
13.5 
15.5 
21.8 
15.1 

10.1 
18.6 
12.2 
13.9 
17.3 
13.5 
12.9 
10.5 
12-7 
16.0 
23.7 
21.4 
15.2 
21.5 
17.1 
15.8 
17.4 
22.4 
16.2 
16.0 
17.7 
23.1 
23.1 
22.2 
23.8 
19.9 
.    22.5 
24.7 
23.8 
21.6 
17.8 
23.5 
18.8 
23.2 
25.4 
22  5 
20.9 
15.5 
16.3 
17.6 
16.4 
20.4 
20.8 
17.7 
25.7 
20.7 
22.1 
19.6 
23.4 
22.2 
19.6 
18.1 
21.9 
23.4 
19.7 
19.4 
22.4 
19.3 
19.7 
30.1 
24.0 
17.2 
15.7 
25.2 
15.7* 
18.2 
16.9 
17.1 
16.6 
13.8 
18.6 
10.9 
13.4 
20.1 
13.9 

49 
78 
55 
66 
71 
55 
60 
49 
58 
68 
97 
86 
71 
87 
73 
68 
71 
93 
71 
-      68 
73 
95 
95 
93 
98 
85 
93 
100 
98 
94 
75 
95 
80 
96 
102 
94 
87 
71 
68 
73 
69 
84 
87 
79 
106 
86 
92 
83 
97 
92 
83 
78 
92 
97 
83 
83 
92 
82 
85 
118 
96 
75 
66 
100 
66 
77 
69 
71 
71 
60 
80 
52 
60 
84 
58 

39 
72 
47 
53 
67 
52 
50 
40 
49 
62 
91 
82 
58 
83 
66 
61 
67 
86 
62 
62 
68 
89 
89 
86 
92 
77 
87 
95 
92 
83 
68 
90 
72 
89 
98 
87 
80 
60 
63 
68 
63 
78 
80 
68 
99 
80 
85 
75 
90 
85 
75 
70 
84 
90 
76 
75 
86- 
74 
76 
116 
92 
65 
60 
97 
60 
70 
65 
66 
64 
53 
72 
42 
52 
77 
53 

Buckthorn  (  R  purshiana)                                  

Butternut  (  J  cinerea)                                                         

Cherry  black  (P  serotina)                                                 

Wi'ld  red  (P  pennsylvanica) 

Chestnut  (C  dentata)  . 

Cotton  wood  (P  trichocarpa) 

Cotton  wood  (P  deltoides) 

Cucumber  (M  acuminata) 

Dogwood  flowering  (C  florida)  

Western  (C.  nuttallii)  

Elder,  pale  (S  glauca)  

Elm  cork  (U  racemosa) 

Slippery  (U  pubescens)  .. 

White  (U  americana) 

Gum,  black  (N.  silvatica) 

Blue  (Eu  globulus) 

Cotton  (N.  aquatica)  .  . 

Red  (L  styraciflua) 

Hackberry  (C  occidentalis)  .  .  . 

Haw,  pear  (C  tomentosa) 

Hickory,  shellbark  (H,  laeiniosa),. 

Bitternut  (H  minima) 

Mockernut  (H.  alba)  .  . 

Nutmeg  (H  myristicae  formis)  . 

Pecan  (H.  pecan)  

Pignut  (H.  glabra)  

Shagbark  (H.  ovata)  .  . 

Water  (H.  aquatica)  

Holly  (I.  opaca)  

Hornbeam  (O  virginiana)  .  . 

Laurel,  California  (U.  californica)  

Mountain  (K.  latifolia)  .... 

Locust,  black  (R.  pseudacacia).. 

•  Honey  (G.  triacanthos)  

Mondrona  (A.  menziesii)  

Magnolia,  evergreen  (M.  foetida)  .  .   . 

Maple,  Oregon  (A.  macrophyllum) 

Red  (A.  rubrum)  

Silver  (A.  saccharinum)  

Sugar  (A.  saccharum). 

Oak,  bur  (Q.  macrocarpa)  

California,  black  (Q.  californica)  

Canyon  live  (  Q.  chrysolepis)  

Chestnut  (Q.  prinus)  

Cow  (Q.  michauxii)  

Laurel  (Q.  laurifolia)  

Pacific  post  (Q.  garryana)  

Post  (Q.  minor).... 

Red(Q.rubra).... 

Spanish  (  Q.  digitata)  

Spanish  (Q.  pagodaefolia)  

Swamp  white  (Q.  platanoides)  .  . 

Water  (Q.  nigra).  .  

Tanbark  (Q.  densiflora)  .... 

White  (Q.  alba)... 

Willow  (Q.  phellos)  

Yellow,  black  (Q.  velutina).. 

Osage,  orange  (Tox.  pomiferum)  . 

Persimmon  (D.  virginiana)  

Rhododendron  (R.  maximum).. 

Sassafras  (S  .  sassafras)  

Service  berry  (A.  canadensis)  

Silverbell  (Mohrodendron  carolinum) 

Sourwood  (Oxydendrum  arboreum)... 

Sumac  (R.  hirta)  

Sugarberry  (Celtis  mississippiensis)  

Sycamore  (P.  occidentalis)  

Umbrella  (Mag.  fraseri)  

Walnut,  black  (J.  nigra)  

Willow,  black  (  S.  nigra)  

Western,  black  (S  .  lasiandra) 

Witch  hazel  (H.  virginiana)  

Yellow  poplar  (L.  tulipifera)  

30  BULLETIN  753,  U.  S.   DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

TABLE  8. — Heat  values  of  cordwood,  based  on  Madison  Laboratory  weights. — Con. 


Species. 

Available  heat  units 
per  cord  of  90  solid 
cubic  feet  (in  mil- 
lions B.  t.  u.). 

Per  cent  of  short- 
ton  coal  value. 

Air-dry. 

Green. 

Air-dry 

Green. 

Cedar,  incense  (L.  decurrens)  

14.5 
16.3 
12.1 
11.3 
16.4 
15.8 
17.7 
15.6 
12.0 
15.1 
13.5 
15.1 
14.3 
14.3 
17.2 
15.0 
15.0 
19.3 
19.1 
22.4 
15.7 
15.0 
'       19.9 
15.0 
22.0 
17.8 
18.5 
20.0 
19.9 
14.3 
19.3 
15.7 
15.0 
14.2 
11.9 
15.0 
13.5 
14.1 
24.4 
14.3 

12.3 
15.5 
11.7 
10.7 
14.5 
15.1 
17.3 
15.1 
11.5 
12.9 
11.5 
13.3 
13.7 
11.1 
15.7 
12.8 
13.5 
17.9 
18.1 
21.6 
13.4 
12.9 
18.1 
13.8 
21.1 
16.8 
16.4 
18.7 
18.5 
11.7 
17.2 
14.6 
13.1 
12.9 
10.5 
14.2 
12.7 
13.5 
23.2 
12.9 

56 
63 
47 
43 
63 
61 
68 
60 
46 
58 
52 
58 
55 
55 
66 
58 
58 
74 
73 
86 
60 
58 
77 
58 
85 
68 
71 
77 
77 
55 
74 
60 
58 
55 
46 
58 
52 
54 
94 
55 

47 
60 
45 
41 
56 
58 
67 
58 
44 
50 
46 
51 
53 
43 
60 
49 
52 
69 
70 
83 
52 
50 
70 
53 
81 
65 
63 
72 
71 
45 
66 
56 
50 
50 
40 
55 
49 
52 
89 
50 

Port  orford  (C.  lawsoniana) 

Western  red  (T  plicata) 

White  (T.  occidentilis)  

Cypress,  bald  (T.  distichum) 

Yellow  (C.  nootkatensis)  

Douglas  fir,  Pacific  coast  (P.  taxifolia) 

Rocky  Mountains 

Fir.  alpine  (A.  lasiocarpa)  .... 

Amabilis  (A.  amabilis) 

Balsam  (A.  balsamea)     

Lowland  white  (A.  grandis) 

Noble  (A.  nobilis)  

Silver,  white  (A.  concolor) 

Hemlock,  black  (T  .  mertensiana)  

Eastern  (T.  canadensis)  

Western  (T.  heterophylla) 

Larch,  western  (L.  occidentalis)  

Eastern  (L.  americana) 

Pine,  Cuban,  slash  (P.  heterophylla)  

Jack  (P.  divaricata) 

Jeffrey  (P  jeffreyi) 

Loblolly  (  P  .  taeda)    .  . 

Lodgepole  (P  contorta) 

Longleaf  (P.  palustris)..    .                      

Norway  (P.  resinoea) 

Pitch(P.rigida)  

Pond  (P  .  serotina)  .  .  . 

Shortleaf(P.echinata)  

Sugar  (P  .  lambertiana)  ,  

Table  Mountain  (P.  pungens)  

Western  white  (P.  monticola) 

Western  yellow  (P.  ponderosa) 

White  (P.  strobus)  

Spruce,  Engelmann  (P.  engelmanni) 

Red  (P  rubra) 

Sitka  (P.sitchensis)     ... 

White  (P.  canadensis) 

Yew,  western  (T.  brevifolia)  

Redwood  (S.  sempervirens)  

Coal,  long  ton  (2,240  pounds)  .  .              .              

29.1 
26.0 

Short  ton  (2  000  pounds) 

NOTE.— Values  given  for  resinous  woods  are  low,  since  resin  adds  to  heating  value;  for  instance,  dry 
Iqngleaf  pine  with  20per  cent  resin  has  a  value  of  approximately  26,400,000  B .  t.  u.,  instead  of  the  22,000,000 
given  in  the  table.  The  amount  of  bark  in  a  cord  of  wood  also  affects  the  heating  value;  for  instance,  bark 
of  birch,  Douglas  fir,  western  yellow  pine,  and  others  has  a  higher  value  than  the  wood.  Much  of  the 
theoretical  value  of  both  wood  and  coatis  lost  in  use.  While  anthracite  and  soft  coal  have  about  the  same 
theoretical  value,  only  from  70  to  75  per  cent  Of  this  value  is  realized  with  anthracite  and  from  60  to  65  per 
cent  with  bituminous  coal .  Values  decrease  as  temperature  of  flue  gases  increases .  To  get  values  for  wood 
only  partly  seasoned  it  may  be  assumed  that  in  most  cases  it  will  be  about  half  seasoned  in  three  months, 
two-thirds  seasoned  in  six  months,  and  entirely  air-dry  in  about  a  year. 

It  may  be  seen  from  this  table  that  the  heating  power  of  a  given 
quantity  of  green  wood  is  not  so  very  much  below  that  of  the  same 
wood  after  it  has  been  dried.  The  choice  of  wood  for  fuel  does  not, 
however,  depend  entirely  upon  its  calorific  power ;  other  factors,  such 
as  freedom  from  smoke,  completeness  of  combustion,  and  rapidity  of 
burning,  play  a  very  important  part.  Green  wood  is  not  only  much 
heavier  to  handle  but  it  is  also  harder  to  ignite  and  to  keep  burning, 
unless  mixed  with  dry  wood  or  with  coal,  and  makes  more  smoke.  For 
a  slow  fire  green  wood  or  a  mixture  of  green  and  dry  wood  is 
often  more  satisfactory  than  dry  wood  alone,  since  the  latter  burns 
up  rapidly  and  much  of  its  heat  escapes  up  the  pipe. 


THE  USE  OF  WOOD  FOB  FUEL. 


31 


Heating  values  of  different  parts  of  the  same  tree  may  vary  con- 
siderably, because  of  differences  in  moisture  content,  proportion  of 
bark  to  wood,  and  other  factors.  Tests  made  by  the  department  of 
forestry  of  the  Michigan  Agricultural  ^College  gave  the  following 
results : 


Position. 

Moisture. 

Dry 
matter. 

British  thermal  units 
(per  pound). 

Green 
wood. 

Dried 
wood. 

Beech  sap  near  stump            .                         

Percent. 
40.2 
25.2 
44.1 
36.2 
36.1 
32.8 
30.8 
35.7 

Per  cent. 
59.8 
74.7 
55.9 
63.8 
63.9 
67.2 
69.2 
64.3 

5,534.4 
7,258.0 
5,086.6 
5,  888.  4 
5,581.9 
5,870.8 
6,099.1 
5,817.2 

9,  253.  5 

9,718.5 
9,098.5 
9.  227.  1 
8,735.8 
8,  735.  8 
8,  813.  3 
9,045.8 

Beech'  heart  near  stump 

Beech'  sap  near  top       *                      

Beech  limb  2  inches  diameter 

Maple  sap  near  stump  

Maple  heart  near  stump  .....        .              

Maple  limb  2  inches  diameter  

In  a  number  of  species  the  bark  has  a  higher  heating  value  than 
other  parts  of  the  tree.  In  the  Northwest,  Douglas  fir  bark  is  often 
a  principal  source  of  fuel  in  firing  donkey  engines.  The  bark  of 
shagbark  hickory  has  a  high  fuel  value  and  burns  with  intense  heat, 
but  with  much  crackling.  In  the  case  of  many  woods,  such  as  the 
cedars,  the  bark  has  a  comparatively  low  fuel  value  and  leaves  a  large 
proportion  of  ash. 

Root  wood  is  little  used  for  fuel,  mainly  because  of  the  difficulty  in 
getting  it  and  its  awkward  form.  It  is  interesting  to  note,  how- 
ever, that  the  roots  of  mesquite  are  capable  of  producing  more  heat 
than  the  average  butt  cut,  and  are  commonly  dug  up  for  firewood 
where  other  wood  is  very  scarce.  Very  often  mesquite  roots  are  so 
much  more  developed  than  the  rest  of  the  tree  that  the  name  "  under- 
ground forests"  has  been  applied  to  stands  of  the  timber  in  semi- 
arid  regions. 

The  rapidity  of  burning  may  be  important  where  quick  heating  is 
desired.  As  a  general  rule  the  softwoods  burn  more  readily  than  the 
hardwoods,  while  the  lighter  hardwoods  burn  more  readily  than  the 
heavier  ones.  The  pines,  for  instance,  give  a  quicker,  hotter  fire  and 
are  consumed  in  a  shorter  time  than  birch,  but  birch  gives  a  more  in- 
tense flame  than  oak.  On  the  other  hand,  the  oaks  give  a  more  steady 
heat.  Less  than  5  per  cent  of  the  wood  used  as  fuel  is  consumed  in 
the  industries,  the  remainder,  or  more  than  95  per  cent,  being  used 
for  domestic  purposes,  where  such  qualities  as  ease  of  ignition,  ra- 
pidity of  combustion,  freedom  from  smoke,  uniform  heating,  or 
quickness  of  burning,  depending  on  the  particular  results  desired,  are 
more  important  than  calorific  value.  A  few  species,  such  as  chestnut, 
butternut,  tamarack,  and  spruce,  are  in  ill  favor  for  open  fires  be- 
cause they  throw  off  sparks. 


32  BULLETIN  753,   U.   S.   DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

Another  point  worth  bearing  in  mind  in  connection  with  the  burn- 
ing of  wood  in  place  of  coal  is  the  difference  in  the  amount  of  ash 
produced.  A  cord  of  hardwood  will  make  only  about  60  pounds  of 
ashes,  while  a  ton  of  hard  (foal  will  make  from  200  to  300  pounds.1 

A  pound  of  wood  briquet,  irrespective  of  species,  should  have 
about*  the  same  heat  value  as  dry  wood,  probably  a  little  higher,  on 
account  of  the  heat  value  of  the  organic  binder  (if  one  is  used), 
which  may  have  a  greater  unit  heat  value  than  wood  and  thus  raise 
the  average  slightly.  If  the  resins  in  the  wood  are  used  as  binders 
the  same  result  may  be  expected.  In  comparing  briquets  with  cord- 
wood  or  stove  wood  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  briquet  is  usually 
drier  and  will  therefore  generate  more  heat  per  pound  of  material 
than  will  wood. 

In  actual  use  wood  fuel  does  not  always  show  up  as  favorably  in 
comparison  with  coal  as  the  above  heat  values  would  indicate.  This  is 
probably  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  not  the  actual  heat-producing 
power  of  the  fuels  that  is  compared  but  the  efficiency  of  the  appara- 
tus for  utilizing  the  heat.  Wood  requires  about  one-third  more  grate 
surface  and  two-thirds  more  cubical  space  than  coal  for  generating 
an  equal  amount  of  steam. 

In  logging  engines  a  ton  of  good  grade  bituminous  coal  is  consid- 
ered equivalent  to  a  cord  and  a  half  of  air-dry  oak  or  two  cords  of 
softwood.  Two  and  a  half  cords  of  pine  knots  (about  125  cubic 
feet)  are  thought  to  furnish  about  the  same  amount  of  steam  as  1 
ton  of  southern  soft  coal.  For  general  calculations  for  stationary 
engines  1  ton  of  coal  is  considered  equivalent  to  2  cords  of  wood,  or 
1  pound  of  coal  to  2J  pounds  of  wood.  During  the  winter  of  1917-18 

1  Since  potash  is  now  greatly  in  demand,  the  quantity  which  may  be  obtained  from 
wood  ash  is  worth  consideration. 

The  quantity  of  ashes  obtained  from  a  cord  of  wood  varies  with  the  conditions  under 
which  it  is  burned.  About  30  cords  of  hardwood  produce  a  ton  of  ashes  equal  in  quan- 
tity to  the  Canadian  wood  ashes  of  commerce ;  but  the  same  quantity  of  wood  consumed 
as  fuel  in  a  cook  stove  or  other  small,  closed  burner  would  be  far  more  completely  reduced 
and  would  produce  only  about  one-third  to  two-thirds  of  a  ton  of  ash.  On  the  other 
hand,  commercial  hardwood  ashes  contain  only  5  per  cent  of  the  valuable  fertilizer 
potash,  whereas  stove  ashes  contain  from  10  to  15  per  cent,  so  that  the  amount  of  potash 
to  be  had  from  a  cord  of  wood  is  about  the  same  however  the  wood  is  burned  and  re- 
gardless of  the  bulk  of  the  resulting  ash.  Softwood  ashes  contain  on  an  average  about 
one-third  less  potash  than  hardwood  ashes,  and  the  quantity  of  ash  obtained  from 
softwoods  is  less  than  from  the  same  bulk  of  hardwood.  The  present  price  of  potash, 
about  25  cents  a  pound,  or  $500  a  ton,  almost  prohibits  its  use  in  fertilizers. 

It  is  important  always  to  keep  wood  ashes  under  cover,  as  they  leach  rapidly  if  allowed 
to  become  damp.  New  ashes  should  be  allowed  to  cool  before  they  are  dumped  on  the 
ash  heap. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  ashes  from  a  cord  of  northern  hardwoods  will  furnish  about 
20  pounds  of  lime,  more  than  3  pounds  of  potash,  and  a  half  pound  of  phosphoric  acid, 
and  that  they  have  a  value  at  present  prices  of  about  $1. 

H.  J.  Wilder,  agriculturist  of  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  (letter  to  Mr.  A.  F. 
Hawes,  July  18,  1918)  :  Hardwood  ashes  which  have  not  been  wet  analyze  about  5  per 
cent  potash,  30  to  35  per  cent  lime,  both  in  desirable  forms.  Potash  contents  of  soft- 
woods is  rarely  below  3  per  cent.  Hardwood  ashes  have  600  to  700  pounds  lime  per 
ton  of  ashes.  Mixture  of  coal  ashes  from  factories  would  do  no  harm. 


THE  USE  OF  WOOD  FOE  FUEL.  33 

one  factory  which  normally  used  50  tons  of  soft  coal  a  day  used  for 
a  month  in  mid-winter  a  minimum  of  15  tons  of  coal  and  50  cords 
of  mixed  hardwood  daily,  from  which  the  conclusion  may  be  drawn 
that  for  steam  production  1  cord  of  green  hardwood  is  equal  to 
seven-tenths  of  a  ton  of  soft  coal.  Careful  tests  made  in  Georgia 
showed  that  to  keep  a  room  at  a  comfortable  temperature  with  an 
open-hearth  fireplace  nearly  10  times  as  much  wood  must  be  con- 
sumed as  when  a  stove  is  used.  This  plainly  indicates  that  it  is  very 
uneconomical  to  depend  on  open  fireplaces  alone  for  heating  houses. 

WOOD  FUEL  FOR  THE  FUTURE. 

GROWING  TIMBER  FOR  FUEL. 

There  is  probably  a  general  impression  that  timber  for  firewood 
can  be  grown  rather  rapidly,  within  a  period  of  5  to  10  years.  This 
will  not  hold  true  for  general  forest  areas,  especially  hardwoods. 
From  20  to  50  years  and  even  longer  are  required  to  produce  a  full 
stand.  The  sprout  forests  of  southern  New  England  will  grow  a 
crop  of  wood  in  10  or  15  years  and  perhaps  less ;  a  full  stand,  how- 
ever, requires  more  time.  Planted  catalpa  on  good  soil  will  yield 
fairly  well  in  8  or  10  years ;  and  eucalyptus  or  blue  gum  will  produce 
a  heavy  growth  in  five  or  six  years.  Willow  and  cottonwood  on 
suitable  sites  will  yield  firewood  in  from  10  to  15  years,  but  usually 
a  longer  time  is  required  for  large  yields  even  with  these  rapidly 
growing  species.  Old  field  and  white  pine  make  rapid  growth  and 
yield  heavily  in  a  comparatively  short  time.  With  hardwoods  like 
oak,  hickory,  maple,  beech,  birch,  etc.,  not  much  can  be  expected  in 
less  than  from  30  to  50  years. 

An  average  of  1  cord  of  fuel  wood  per  acre  per  annum  is  a  large 
yield,  taking  the  country  as  a  whole.  Hardwood  forests  will  prob- 
ably not  average  more  than  three- fourths  of  a  cord  growth  per  year 
and  many  will  not  make  more  than  one-fourth  of  a  cord.  With  the 
faster-growing  species  2  cords  per  acre  is  a  high  average  annual  yield 
even  on  favorable  sites.  With  average  natural  stands  of  cottonwood, 
cord  wood  can  be  obtained  in  about  16  years,  with  a  total  yield  of 
approximately  42J  cords  per  acre,  or  an  annual  yield  of  2.7  cords. 
Under  particularly  favorable  conditions  of  growth  the  time  may  be 
shortened  to  12  years,  especially  where  thinning  and  cultivation  are 
possible.  Since  stands  cut  for  cordwood  can  be  most  easily  renewed 
by  coppicing,  the  second  rotation  should  be  much  shorter  than  the 
first  because  of  the  more  rapid  growth  of  the  sprouts.  Eucalyptus 
in  California  is  reported  to  yield  as  high  as  7  cords  per  acre  per  an- 
num on  a  comparatively  short  rotation.  With  the  pines  a  yield  of 
over  4  cords  per  acre  per  annum  has  been  reached.  Only  on  the  best 


34  BULLETIN  ^153,  U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

sites  and  under  suitable  climatic  conditions  can  such  yields  be  ex- 
pected even  with  these  species. 

FORESTRY. 

It  will  not  do  for  communities  in  wooded  regions  to  depend  on  the 
chance  growth  of  wood  for  their  future  fuel  supply.  Already  many 
communities,  especially  in  the  Northeast,  are  finding  it  necessary 
each  year  to  go  farther  and  farther  back  for  their  wood,  or  to  cut 
smaller  trees  each  succeeding  year,  because  the  available  supply  of 
standing  wood  is  too  small  to  allow  the  trees  to  grow  to  the  proper 
size  before  they  are  cut. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  expect  that  the  time  will  come — and  soon  in 
some  regions — when  it  will  be  necessary  to  provide  definitely  that  cer- 
tain areas  be  set  aside  to  produce  wood,  and  that  they  be  so  man- 
aged as  to  produce  the  maximum  amount  of  wood  possible  within 
the  shortest  possible  time.  It  is  not  desirable  to  devote  good 
agricultural  land  to  growing  an  annual  supply  of  fuel ;  generally  the 
inferior  land  on  farms  will  grow  sufficient  fuel  to  supply  regularly 
each  year's  needs.  Farms  with  such  land  are  numerous  in  the  hilly 
sections  of  the  country,  and  are  found  almost  everywhere  except  in 
the  prairie  and  plains  regions  and  in  limited  areas  in  the  river 
bottoms. 

Meanwhile,  the  least  that  should  be  done  is  to  see  that  fire  and  other 
destructive  agents  are  kept  out  of  growing  woodland,  and  that  when 
cutting  is  done  for  firewood  only  that  material  is  taken  out  whose 
removal  will  not  cause  injury  to  the  productive  capacity  of  the 
remaining  stand.  Advice  on  these  matters  will  be  freely  given  by 
the  various  State  forestry  departments,  or  where  they  are  not  avail- 
able, by  the  Forest  Service  of  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture. 

MUNICIPAL  FORESTS. 

Acute  need  for  fuel  in  emergencies  furnishes  one  of  the  strongest 
arguments  for  maintaining  municipal  forests  by  cities  or  towns  in 
wooded  districts  where  this  is  possible.  These  emergencies  may  be 
expected  periodically,  and  municipal  forests  serving  as  parks  and 
pleasure  grounds  or  as  protection  to  water  supplies  can  come  into 
play  as  fuel  reserves  in  time  of  stress  when  coal  can  not  be  obtained 
in  sufficient  quantities  for  the  needs  of  the  communities.  It  is  a  point 
well  worth  the  thoughtful  consideration  of  every  community  which 
has  woodland  adjacent  to  it  suitable  for  this  purpose.  Some  towns 
already  own  such  tracts,  and  no  doubt  there  will  eventually  be  many 
of  these  forests  in  the  older  settled  sections  of  the  country  when  it 
is  found  how  easily  they  are  handled  and  how  advantageous  they  are 
in  many  respects.  Instead  of  being  sources  of  expense,  well-managed 
woodlands  should  quickly  become  sources  of  considerable  revenue  to 
the  communities  owning  them. 


THE  USE   OP  WOOD  FOR  FUEL.  35 

PROMOTING  USE  OF  WOOD  FOR  FUEL. 

PUBLICITY. 

Where  wood  fuel  has  been  little  used  or  its  use  has  been  discon- 
tinued for  a  long  time,  a  great  deal  can  be  done  toward  developing 
a  demand  for  it  by  means  of  newspapers,  motion  pictures,  illus- 
trated talks,  "cut-a-cord"  clubs,  "cutting  bees,"  and  posters.  News- 
papers are  usually  most  active  in  advertising  the  work  when  fuel 
conditions  are  acute.  In  the  depth  of  winter  when  a  shortage 
is  severe  it  is  a  matter  of  news  and  is  "played  up"  a  great  deal,  but 
at  other  times  it  is  difficult  to  use  this  medium  of  publicity.  Motion 
pictures  may  be  used,  with  short,  pithy  sentences  embodying  facts 
about  Avood  fuel.  Lantern  slides  are  being  used  to  illustrate  talks 
on  wood  fuel  given  before  clubs  and  various  local  organizations  in- 
terested in  the  subject.  Posters  carrying  catchy  slogans  and  con- 
densed information  have  been  devised  in  several  States  and  have  been 
very  effective. 

"Cutting  bees,"  so  called,  are  organized  efforts  at  getting  out  wood 
by  a  crowd  and  are  in  the  nature  of  a  picnic.  They  are  carried  on 
with  great  enthusiasm  and  rivalry,  and  well  serve  the  purpose  of 
advertising  the  need  of  wood  fuel  and  the  means  of  getting  it. 
Other  forms  of  organization  can  be  used  which  suit  the  particular 
locality  and  the  spirit  of  the  people,  or  existing  organizations  can 
be  turned  in  this  direction. 

"Cut-a-cord"  club,  as  organized  in  New  England  and  some  other 
sections  during  the  winter  of  1917-18,  carry  the  "cutting  bee"  idea 
still  farther.  Each  member  agrees  to  cut  a  definite  amount  of  wood, 
either  one  cord  or  several.  Organization  is  made  semipermanent, 
so  that  the  work  is  carried  on  more  systematically  than  in  the  more 
or  less  spontaneous  "bees." 

Many  other  ways  can,  of  course,  be  devised  to  suit  local  conditions 
and  to  arouse  interest  and  action.  The  essential  point  is  to  arouse 
the  public  from  its  inertia. 

When  the  public  realizes  the  necessity  of  returning  to  wood  fuel 
the  advertising  campaign  is  mainly  finished.  It  should  be  succeeded 
by  a  campaign  of  instruction  in  methods  of  producing  wood  fuel 
and  in  organization  for  its  production  and  distribution.  With  the 
population  concentrated  at  a  distance  from  its  fuel  supply,  as  a 
large  part  of  it  is  to-day,  and  not  accustomed  to  providing  fuel  in  ad- 
vance of  need,  individuals  are  not  able  to  cope  with  an  emergency 
brought  on  by  war,  prolonged  congestion  of  transportation,  or  inter- 
ference with  coal  production. 

A  number  of  different  organizations  have  been  developed  to  meet 
this  situation,  such  as  wood  fuel  committees,  war  fuel  companies, 
municipal  wood  yards,  and  "cut-a-cord"  clubs. 


36  BULLETIN  753,  U.  S.   DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

The  wood  fuel  committees  may  be  State,  county,  or  community 
organizations.  In  some  States  all  three  are  used  and  all  work  more 
or  less  closely  with  the  Fuel  Administration.  Many  municipalities 
appoint  such  committees  temporarily  during  the  emergency  winter 
season  to  organize  means  of  production  and  transportation  of  wood 
as  well  as  to  equalize  its  distribution  and  price.  All  these  com- 
mittees should  be  made  permanent,  for  much  effective  work  can  be 
done  by  them  during  that  part  of  the  year  when  conditions  are  not 
so  acute. 

As  usually  organized,  a  war  fuel  company  is  a  stock  company  made 
up  of  public-spirited  citizens  operating  under  a  charter  duly  regis- 
tered with  the  State.  The  object  is  to  buy  and  sell  wood  and  coal  at 
a  low  rate  of  return  on  the  money  invested,  for  the  purpose  of  alle- 
viating the  undesirable  conditions  that  are  bound  to  follow  wherever 
sufficient  fuel  can  not  be  had  by  families,  business  concerns,  and 
public  institutions.  The  rate  of  profit  is  sometimes  limited  to  not 
more  than  6  per  cent  and  the  proceeds  are  turned  over  to  some 
public  charity. 

WOOD  FUEL  LEGISLATION. 

Doubtless  in  many  cases  State  legislation  would  help  to  promote 
the  use  of  wood  fuel.  Price  regulation,  measuring,  shipping,  mar- 
keting, and  other  features  may  be  aided  by  specific  laws  adapted  to 
local  conditions. 

In  Virginia  an  order  has  been  issued  by  the  Federal  Fuel  Admin- 
istrator for  the  State  prohibiting  any  person  residing  outside  the 
cities  or  incorporated  towns  from  obtaining  coal  except  by  special 
permit  from  the  local  administrator  upon  the  execution  of  a  state- 
ment to  the  effect  that  wood  is  not  available.  This  was  done  to  bring 
about  the  substitution  of  wood  for  coal  to  a  very  appreciable  extent 
without  imposing  serious  hardship  on  those  required  to  use  wood. 
Similar  restrictions  for  most  localities  in  the  eastern  United  States 
would  seem  desirable  as  a  reasonable  means  of  bringing  about  a 
greater  use  of  wood  fuel  by  those  who  have  wood  around  them  or  can 
obtain  it  readily.  This  method  is  sufficiently  elastic  to  accomplish 
the  object  aimed  at  without  working  hardship  on  those  who  can  not 
reach  wood.  It  should  be  especially  valuable  in  the  matter  of  coal 
embargoes  which  may  be  suddenly  found  absolutely  necessary  in  the 
depth  of  winter  in  a  fuel  crisis.  When  an  embargo  must  be  laid,  it 
should  be  a  flexible  one  and  the  heaviest  restrictions  placed  on  those 
localities  where  wood  is  available  and  on  those  consumers  who  can 
use  wood  fuel.  In  this  way  coal  may  be  conserved  and  the  evil  effects 
of  a  blanket  embargo  avoided. 

MUNICIPAL  WOOD  YARDS. 

In  many  places  municipalities  themselves  organize  wood  yards  to 
purchase,  manufacture,  and  distribute  wood  fuel,  in  order  to  sup- 


THE  USE  OF  WOOD  FOR  FUEL.  37 

plement  the  regular  supply  where  no  other  agencies  exist  to  take  the 
whole  field.  Wood  handled  by  them  is  usually  sold  at  cost. 

In  some  States  a  grant  of  specific  power  is  necessary  before  a 
municipality  can  engage  in  the  fuel  business.  In  many  cases  in  the 
eastern  United  States  last  winter  this  fact  was  a  serious  obstacle 
which  prevented  cities  and  towns  from  taking  active  relief  measures 
to  keep  the  people  warm  and  supply  power  to  essential  commercial 
enterprises.  In  two  States,  Maine  and  Mississippi,  public  fuel  yards 
are  specifically  authorized  by  law.  The  Mississippi  law,  approved 
April  21,  1918,  authorizes  municipal  wood  and  coal  yards.1  The 
essential  features  of  this  law  are  of  especial  interest  in  view  of  the 
country-wide  effort  being  made  to  provide  against  a  fuel  shortage 
in  the  future.  By  this  law — 

(a)  The  authorities  of  every  municipality  are  authorized  to  establish  and 
operate  wood  and  coal  yards  until  one  year  after  the  close  of  the  war,  for  the 
purpose  of  supplying  the  inhabitants  with  fuel. 

(&)  A  municipality  which  establishes  and  operates  a  wood  yard  or  coal 
yard  has  full  power  to  create,  fill,  discontinue,  or  abolish  all  such  offices  or 
employments  in  connection  therewith  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  or  proper; 
to  fix  and  pay  salaries;  to  cut,  purchase,  transport,  sell,  and  deliver  wood  or 
coal  necessary  for  providing  the  inhabitants  with  fuel;  from  time  to  time  to 
fix  the  selling  prices  and  the  terms  of  sale ;  and  to  make  and  enforce  such  rules 
and  regulations  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  act. 

(c)  The  necessary  funds  are  to  be  set  aside  out  of  the  general  municipal 
fund,  or  borrowed  at  interest  on  the  credit  of  the  municipality. 

(d)  In  order  to  borrow  money  for  this  purpose  the  municipality  is  required 
to  publish  in  local  papers,  for  a  period  of  ten  days,  a  full  statement  of  its  inten- 
tions, stating  the  sum  needed  and  rate  of  interest  to  be  paid.    In  case  a  protest 
signed  by  at  least  25  per  cent  of  the  qualified  electors  of  the  municipality  is 
filed  before  the  expiration  of  the  period  of  advertisement,  the  question  must 
then  be  submitted  in  an  election  requiring  for  passage  the  approval  of  a  majority 
of  the  qualified  electors. 

Similar  action  by  other  States  is  desirable. 

WOOD  FUEL  RESERVES. 

There  is  considerable  difficulty  in  getting  wood  into  suitable  form 
for  fuel  and  transporting  it  to  the  market  on  short  notice.  It  is 
only  a  matter  of  good  business  foresight  for  those  communities 
which  have  the  wood  around  them  to  see  that  some  time  during  the 
season  a  sufficient  supply  is  cut  and  hauled  to  where  it  may  be  easily 
available  as  a  reserve  for  the  winter  season.  The  time  to  cut  it  is  at 
any  slack  time  during  the  year,  preferably  in  the  spring,  so  that  it 
will  have  time  to  season  thoroughly  by  the  next  winter. 

Although  Mississippi  is  the  first  State  to  respond  with  a  law  on  the  subject  in  the 
present  emergency,  it  is  not  actually  the  first  to  pass  such  legislation.  As  early  as  1903 
Maine  passed  a  law  allowing  cities  to  establish  public  yards  for  sale  of  wood,  coal,  and 
other  fuel  without  financial  profit.  The  Maine  law  has  been  sustained  by  the  highest 
court  in  the  State  and  also  by  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 


38  BULLETIN  753,   U.   S.   DEPARTMENT  OF   AGRICULTURE. 

In  this  connection  it  is  very  desirable  that  reasonably  close  esti- 
mates be  made  in  advance  of  the  amount  of  wood  which  will  be 
available  to  different  communities  from  all  sources.  It  would  be  a 
comparatively  simple  undertaking  to  secure  estimates  of  the  amount 
of  fuel  wood  which  is  ready  for  use  or  which  it  is  planned  to  cut  for 
the  next  winter.  The  figures  should  include  (1)  the  number  of  cords 
used  in  the  previous  year;  (2)  the  number  of  cords  cut,  including 
the  amount  left  over  from  the  previous  winter;  (3)  the  number  of 
cords  to  be  cut  for  winter,  say  from  September  1  to  December  31. 
Such  figures  would  afford  valuable  bases  not  only  for  organizing 
wood  fuel  work  but  also  for  allotting  supplies  of  coal. 

SUMMARY. 

1.  With  enormous  supplies  of  wood  widely  distributed  over  much 
of  the  United  States,  especially  the  eastern  half,  there  is  no  excuse 
for  suffering  because  of  inability  to  get  coal. 

2.  Wood  is  already  widely  used  in  rural  districts;  its  use  can  and 
should  be  greatly  extended,  at  least  during  the  present  crisis,  to  save 
coal  and  cars  for  more  essential  uses. 

3.  Wood  can  be  substituted  for  coal  with  greatest  public  benefit 
in  places  where  rail-hauled  coal  can  be  replaced  with  wagon-hauled 
wood.    Long  distance  rail  transportation  of  wood  is  not  economical. 

4.  Domestic  consumers  in  rural  districts  and  small  cities  can  most 
easily  substitute  wood   fuel   for  coal.     Most  types  of  stoves  and 
furnaces  can  be  adapted  to  the  use  of  wood. 

5.  Except  in  case  of  plants  which  use  their  own  wood  refuse,  or 
others  in  the  close  vicinity  of  such  plants,  wood  fuel  is  less  economi- 
cal than  coal  for  factories.    When  coal  can  not  be  had,  however, 
wood  can  be  used  with  fairly  satisfactory  results,  and  is  cheaper  than 
shutting  down  the  plant. 

6  The  widespread  use  of  wood  for  fuel,  if  only  such  wood  as  is  best 
fitted  for  this  purpose  be  taken,  will  be  of  great  benefit  to  our  forests 
as  well  as  a  source  of  revenue  to  their  owners. 

7.  To  promote  the  use  of  wood  fuel,  especially  where  it  is  not  now 
in  general  use,  will  require  organized  effort,  preferably  by  com- 
munity, municipal,  or  State  organizations.     Such  effort  should  cover 
the  stimulation  of  demand  for  wood  and  stimulation  of  production 
by  private  agencies,  as  well  as  direct  organization  of  producing, 
transporting,  and  marketing  of  wood  fuel  by  the  community. 

8.  Reserves  of  wood  fuel  should  be  established  in  all  districts 
where  there  is  a  possibility  of  fuel  shortage.     For  the  present  these 
reserves  will  probably  consist  largely  of  wood  purchased  from  pro- 
ducers ;  it  may  eventually  be  advisable  for  communities  to  own  their 
own  woodlands  in  order  that  they  may  more  effectively  regulate  the 
cutting  and  the  price  of  fuel  wood. 


THE  USE  OF   WOOD  FOR  FUEL.  39 

APPENDIX. 

PUBLICATIONS  ON  WOOD  FUEL. 

Early  in  1917  publications  began  to  appear  treating  wood  fuel 
briefly  with  reference  to  local  conditions.  They  were  issued  mostly 
by  States,  and  State  foresters  were  chiefly  instrumental  in  getting 
them  out.  The  first  one  appeared  in  June  in  the  shape  of  a  press 
bulletin  by  K.  W.  Woodward  of  the  New  Hampshire  Agricultural 
College,  Durham,  N.  H.  This  was  followed  by  others  until  at  least 
20  have  been  published.  Canada  also  published  one  early  in  1918 
modeled  on  those  put  out  by  the  States.  Future  publications  should 
go  into  detail  as  to  the  quantity  of  wood  fuel  available  in  the  State 
and  its  distribution,  as  well  as  the  amount  of  fuel  wood  cut  and 
-used  by  specific  localities  within  the  State. 

RECENT  PUBLICATIONS  ON  WOOD  FUEL. 

Emergency  Fuel  from  the  Farm  Woodlot,  by  A.  F.  Hawes,  Circular  79,  Office 
of  the  Secretary,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture.  (Contributed  by  the 
Forest  Service,  Washington,  D.  C.,  October,  1917.) 

Firewood,  by  K.  W.  Woodward,  Extension  Circular  22,  September,  1917,  New 
Hampshire  Agricultural  College,  Durham,  N.  H. 

The  Fuel  Situation,  by  K.  W.  Woodward,  Extension  Press  Bulletin  77,  June, 
1917,  Agricultural  College,  Durham,  N.  H. 

Wood  Fuel,  by  Paul  D.  Kneeland  and  F.  W.  Rane,  Massachusetts  State  For- 
ester's Office,  1917,  Boston,  Mass. 

Wood  Fuel,  by  R.  D.  Forbes,  Assistant  Forester,  Department  of  Conservation 
and  Development  of  New  Jersey.  1917,  Trenton,  N.  J. 

A  press  bulletin  was  issued  October  13,  1917,  by  the  State  fuel  administrator 
at  Greensboro,  N.  C.,  urging  the  cities  and  towns  of  the  State  to  furnish  wood 
to  consumers  at  cost  as  a  war  measure. 

Wood  as  Emergency  Fuel,  by  J.  H.  Foster  and  F.  H.  Millen,  bulletin,  department 
of  forestry,  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College,  3d  series,  vol.  4,  No.  2, 
January  15,  1918,  College  Station,  Tex. 

Cordwood  for  Fuel,  by  J.  H.  Pratt  and  J.  S.  Holmes,  Press  Bulletin  160,  North 
Carolina  Geological  and  Economic  Survey,  January  30,  1918,  Chapel  Hill,  N.  C. 

Wood  Fuel,  by  William  G.  Howard,  assistant  superintendent  of  State  forests, 
Bulletin  16,  conservation  commission  of  New  York,  1918,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

Wood  Fuel  to  Relieve  the  Coal  Shortage  in  Eastern  Canada,  by  Clyde  Leavitt, 
chief  forester,  commission  of  conservation,  Ottawa,  Canada,  1918. 

Municipal  Woodyards,  by  the  Federal  Fuel  Administrator  (Wood  Fuel  Depart- 
ment for  Georgia),  Commerce,  Ga.,  February,  1918. 

Wood  Fuel  for  Iowa,  March,  1918,  by  Prof.  G.  B.  McDonald,  Iowa  State  College, 
Ames,  Iowa  (in  cooperation  with  Charles  Webster,  Federal  fuel  adminis- 
trator for  Iowa.) 

Coal  Conservation  and  Wood  Fuel,  March,  1918,  State  fuel  administrator  for 
Minnesota. 

Tamarack  for  Fuel,  1918,  issued  by  the  publicity  department,  Minnesota,  com- 
mission of  public  safety,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Wood  Fuel  and  Democracy,  1918,  State  fuel  administrator  of  Minnesota,  St. 
Paul,  Minn. 


40  BULLETIN  753,   U.   S.   DEPARTMENT  OF   AGRICULTURE. 

Cordwood  Producers,  list  furnished  to  Minnesota  forest  service  for  distribution, 

March  12,  1918. 
Firewood  to  Relieve  the  Coal  Shortage,  Forestry  Leaflet  No.  19,  February  15, 

1918,  by  F.  W.  Besley,   State  forester,  Maryland  State  board  of  forestry, 

Baltimore,  Md. 

Firewood  and  the  Woodlot,  Press  Bulletin  1918,  by  Edmund  Secrest,  State  for- 
ester, Wooster,  Ohio. 
The  Price  of  Fuel  Wood,  by  William  K.  Prudden,  State  fuel  administrator, 

Lansing,  Mich.,  March,  1918. 
Wood  and  the  Present  Fuel  Emergency,  by  John  M.  Briscoe,  Maine  Forestry 

Association,  February  6,  1918,  Bangor,  Me. 
Municipal  Woodyards,  Circular  2,  by  T.  A.  Parker  and  James  B.  Berry,  of  the 

wood  fuel   department  of  United   States  fuel   administration  for   Georgia, 

May,  1918. 

GENERAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Betts,  H.  S. :  Wood  Fuel  Tests.  (U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture,  Forest  Service, 
Washington,  D.  C.  Review  of  Forest  Service  Investigations,  193,  Vol.  2,  pp. 
39-42.) 

Bogue,  E.  E. :  Some  Determinations  of  Weight  and  Fuel  Value  of  Green  Wood. 
(Forestry  Quarterly,  Washington,  D.  C.,  1904,  Vol.  2,  pp.  275-276.) 

Fisher,  W.  R. :  Heating  Power  and  Combustibility  of  Wood.  ( In  Schlich's 
Manual  of  Forestry,  London,  Bradbury,  Agnew  &  Co.,  ed.  2,  1908,  Vol.  5,  pp. 
107-111.) 

Fuel  Value  of  Wood,  The:  (W.  B.  Campbell,  forest  products  laboratories  of 
Canada,  March  12,  1918.  Canadian  Forestry  Journal,  April,  1918,  Vol. 
XIV,  No.  4) 

Kollock,  T. :  Efficiency  of  Wood  in  Stoves  and  Open  Fireplaces.  (Forest,  Fish, 
and  Game,  Athens,  Ga.,  April,  1911,  Vol.  3,  No.  6,  pp.  95-97.) 

Kreisinger,  Henry  and  others.  Combustion  of  Coal  and  Design  of  Furnaces. 
144  p.  il.,  pi.,  diagrams.  Washington,  D.  C.,  1917.  (U.  S.  Department  of  the 
Interior,  Bureau  of  Mines.  Bulletin  135. ) 

Kreisinger,  Henry :  Five  Ways  of  Saving  Fuel  in  Heating  Houses.  13  p.  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  1918.  (U.  S.  Department  of  the  Interior,  Bureau  of  Mines. 
Technical  Paper  199.) 

Pierson,  Albert  H. :  Consumption  of  Firewood  in  the  United  States.  7  p.  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  1910.  (U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  Forest  Service.  Cir- 
cular 181.) 

Record,  S.  J. :  The  Fuel  Value  of  Wood.  (Hardwood  Record,  Chicago,  October 
10,  1912,  Vol.  34,  No.  12,  pp.  32-33.) 

Schenck,  C.  A.:  Heating  Power  of  Wood  (in  his  Forest  Utilization,  Biltmore, 
N.  C.,  Biltmore  Forest  School,  1904,  pp.  64-65.) 

Schenck,  C.  A.:  Manufacture  of  Charcoal  in  Charcoal  Kilns  (Pits).  (Logging 
and  Lumbering  or  Forest  Utilization,  pp.  166-168,  1912.) 


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